


Not into Details

by Tadpole4176



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s02e21 1969, Gen, Kid Fic, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 34,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3406808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tadpole4176/pseuds/Tadpole4176
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if SG-1's departure from 1969 wasn't as smooth as General Hammond led them to believe? When General Hammond's note to Sam about the solar flares is found, suddenly the members of SG-1 look as though they're not going to experience quite the childhoods they think they remember. That's OK though, no one ever gets the better of Teal'c when he's on a mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1969

 

As suddenly as it had switched on, the great ring, which had stood dormant and boxed in the storage facility for so long, turned off again. The water within it seemed to simply evaporate, without leaving a trace on the floor, and the mysterious symbols stopped glowing. Once more, it was just another relic.

 

Scrambling up from his position behind the jeep, Lieutenant Johnson took a moment to steady himself against its hood, his legs unsure of themselves as his mind processed what he’d just seen.

 

Those people – whoever they were – were gone.

 

Beside him, as if aware that it was no longer needed, the jeep’s engine spluttered to a halt, startling the already shaken Lieutenant briefly as his brain took the time to realise what it was. Mundane car noises, rather than extra-terrestrial water filled rings. Good. He didn’t need any more weirdness for the next few minutes at least.

 

Reassuring himself, he glanced once more at the car, confirming that it had got the keys in it, and hadn’t been revving its own engine without a solid, justifiable reason.

 

Intriguingly, it also had a small, yellow piece of paper sitting prominently on the driver’s seat. Not that paper was unusual in itself, but the military was usually fastidious about the way it kept its junk. Little bits of rubbish didn’t typically feature heavily.

 

 

1970

 

Lieutenant George Hammond sank onto his bunk with an uncharacteristic unease, his hands clutching at the source of his discomfort as his mind tried to work its way round the problem.

 

It had been a long day.

 

A mere 15 hours earlier, things had been so simple. He’d risen promptly to his alarm and enjoyed his breakfast with the confidence of a man who knows how to get up in plenty of time. He’d driven the 30 minutes or so onto the base from his apartment quietly whistling the theme tune to “Dragnet” to himself, then embarked on a series of training exercises triggered by the Major’s nervousness over that “Russian infiltration” last year with a smile on his face.

 

Of course, George knew full well that there had been no Russians involved in last year’s incident, but he was also aware of when it was necessary to keep his mouth shut. Besides, he enjoyed the exercises, it was good to make sure he was on top of his game and it gave him chance to prove himself again. Somehow, he got the impression that, like the Major, that inexplicable incident hadn’t done his record much good. Not that anyone had blamed anything on him, more that they were concerned.

 

So the exercises were good all round really. At least, they would have been if it hadn’t been for the arrival of some civilian weasel from somewhere in the Pentagon. Eric Rossendale was not a man George had taken to. In fact, the Texan was willing to admit that the officious civilian was possibly the first man he’d ever despised on sight, and that wasn’t something he’d admit to easily. His Mother had always taught him to give others a fair chance to prove themselves.

 

“Well,” mused George. “This time, Momma, I’m afraid I can’t oblige you.”

 

The meeting with Rossendale really hadn’t been pretty.

 

The man’s pomposity hadn’t been a good start. He’d marched onto a military base as if he’d owned it, and in the middle of a training exercise insisted to the Major that he needed to speak to George immediately, paying no attention to the Major’s suggestion that he wait an hour or so. Then, having got his own way there, he’d proceeded to interrogate George as though he was the lowest form of criminal imaginable, and on several occasions had the usually even-tempered Texan’s fingers itching to take a pop at him.

 

Already convinced that the man was the worst kind of bureaucrat, George had had to grit his teeth and play along with the questioning. All the while ignoring any implications that it was typical behaviour to casually let prisoners escape on his watch. Then he’d dropped his bombshell.

 

“So, George,” Rossendale began, the repeated use of his first name making George bristle further. “I’ve come into possession of this piece of paper.”

 

He pushed a familiar sheet of yellow paper across the table, George’s own handwriting still visible at the top.

 

George shrugged, as casually as possible, given his surprise, all the while wondering how Captain Carter had come to lose it. “Just a few notes,” he commented.

 

“Dates, if I’m not mistaken,” observed Rossendale, his weasel-like face twitching. “Written in your handwriting on a sheet of paper that no manufacturer can claim.”

 

“I’d take it up with the stationery department,” suggested George, wryly.

 

Turning a shade of pink that on a larger man George might have worried was preceding some sort of heart-attack, Rossendale snatched the piece of paper back, waving it in George’s face. “I know you were involved, George. This paper, with its phoney manufacturing and even phonier ink – I won’t even get into that – it screams that you know something about those so-called Russians and the weapons the Major has trouble even describing.”

 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” put in George, certain it was time he made his stance a little clearer for the man.

 

“I’m sure you don’t. I’ve been given that story right from the top, and you’re just the last guy in a very long line of liars, except for one thing.” The annoying little man took his opportunity to wave the crumpled yellow paper in front of George’s face once more, confirming to the exasperated Lieutenant that this wasn’t likely to be escaped easily. Rossendale had the look of someone with a plan. And a boss.

 

George just needed to know who.

 

“I could make things very difficult for you,” Rossendale was still speaking, his voice now really getting on George’s last nerve. “Are you listening to me, George? You need to be careful. With this evidence, I could really make something of your involvement, no matter what you might deny or how good a soldier you are. You could wind up at court martial.”

 

“I did nothing wrong.” George held the man’s eyes, knowing that he was speaking the truth, however much the authorities might not agree with him. “This paper is merely a curiosity.” Slowly, deliberately, George removed the paper from Rossendale’s hand and shredded it into tiny pieces before him.

 

Unfortunately, Rossendale’s reaction wasn’t quite what he’d hoped for. Twitching an eyebrow at the annoyed Lieutenant, and making no effort to hide his sneer, the civilian reached into his briefcase, withdrawing another yellow sheet of paper carrying George’s handwriting.

 

“We had copies made,” he announced, unnecessarily. “You can take this one as a souvenir if you like. The original’s still safe.”

 

Inwardly, George groaned, regretting ever seeing that piece of paper. How had she lost it somewhere this goon could pick up on? Outwardly, he schooled his features into his best full-military-denial poker face, and replied, “It’s still merely a curiosity, Eric,” watching the man bristle at the use of his first name, “and something you should be speaking to the stationer about rather than me.”

 

“What happened on those dates, George? Why were there dates written on that piece of paper?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr Rossendale. That piece of paper you’re so fond of was just a handy piece of scrap. A man can hardly be expected to remember his precise whereabouts a year after the fact now, can he?”

 

Rossendale didn’t respond right away. Instead, he rose to his feet, carefully closing his briefcase before sliding his chair under the table and leaning toward George.

 

“We’ll be in touch.”

 

George sighed. If anyone had thought to ask, at that very moment he couldn’t decide if it was out of relief, annoyance, or just a sense of impending doom. Whichever it was, he really needed to find out where this was all coming from. Rossendale wasn’t a man to be working alone.

 

                                                            **********

 

In the relative quiet of the room, his footsteps sounded as though he was marching across a huge, empty hall. Appropriate, it seemed, to the man who steadfastly remained facing in the other direction, apparently ignoring him.

 

Clearing his throat, the intruder nonetheless spoke - he had a message to relay. “Rossendale has made first contact, sir.”

 

“It went smoothly, I take it?” With his face still obscured, the man managed to nevertheless compress all his expectations into those few words.

 

“Lieutenant Hammond is aware that we may be calling on him,” the tall, thin underling knew when it was best not to make a song and dance about the exact truth to one’s superior. Rossendale hadn’t exactly been the picture of joy when he’d emerged from the mountain, although he had eventually come to the conclusion that he was quite pleased with himself.

 

So George Hammond wasn’t broken and 100% working for them just yet, but there was time. Not to mention other fish to fry.

 

In the meantime, however, he thought it best to make a prompt exit.

 

Before he got asked any awkward questions.

 


	2. Chapter 2

1974

 

He wasn’t skipping, but something in his heart told him he could be. It was already September, but the sun was shining, he held in his hand a grade A for a MATH test and the school bully had just passed him by without a second glance.

 

Life was good.

 

Foregoing the skipping, just in case Dean Pilling turned round and changed his mind, Daniel nevertheless allowed himself to smile, something he didn’t feel like he’d done properly for an entire year. Not like this. And though there was still a little edge of guilt to it all – being remotely happy – he knew deep down his Mum and Dad wouldn’t have minded. Better still, maybe they were here and pleased about his test.

 

Slightly self-consciously, Daniel glanced over each shoulder. Not looking for Dean, or even his new sister, Fen, just checking in case particularly happy angels became visible. Well, it was important to be sure.

 

Even the lack of any kind of detectable, glowy presence did little to dampen his mood.

 

As he wandered home, Daniel found himself reflecting a little over the events of the previous year. Not that he would ever get over his parents’ death as such, but if they had to die, he thought his new foster family was a very nice place to end up. He liked his new Mum and Dad, and he found himself increasingly able to call them Mum and Dad without wincing, but better still, his sister was brilliant.

 

Fen was just under a year older than him, and quite wild. For every time Daniel would have chosen to curl up with a book or otherwise shut himself off, Fen had discovered a new adventure to take him on. They’d been hiking, fishing, played football and all sorts of other Fen-invented activities like treasure hunting or bully tailing (that had been particularly scary). And though it took him away from his books and all the fascinating discoveries he knew he was missing out on, Daniel found he truly didn’t mind.

 

Usually, Fen would walk home with him from school. She’d be a bit antsy from being cooped up all day by the time they walked home so she’d already be inventing some new adventure to go on, even if it was just something small. Daniel wondered, maybe today would have been a simple one, paddling in the lake and looking for frogs or something. But she’d had to stay behind at school – detention – after she’d hit a boy in her class for throwing a board eraser at her.

 

It didn’t matter. Dean Pilling had already passed by, and Daniel was quite enjoying a little time to himself. Besides, tomorrow was Fen’s 10th birthday, and he was absolutely dying to give her his present. Fen being late would give him just the right amount of time to finish it off.

 

Not that he wanted her to be stuck at school, it was just while things were doing such a good job of going his way he thought he’d make the most of it. Maybe Ra - the Egyptian sun God - was up there somewhere, making sure that things went well while the sun was shining, Daniel smiled.

 

When he finally got home, despite his leisurely attitude to the walk itself, Daniel wasted no time. Abandoning his books on the top of his bed, he quickly scrambled underneath it to obtain the last two clues on his archaeological treasure hunt. He’d been hiding and burying things for nearly a month but now all he had to do was hide one piece in the flower bed, then wrap the other one up and Fen would be all set to spend the entire day digging for her present. He’d even set the shovel out handy, it was the perfect present.

 

As he headed back downstairs again, artefacts in hand, Daniel’s new Mum popped her head round the corner.

 

“Daniel! Did you have a good day at school?” She smiled, but even as she did so Daniel could tell that something was wrong.

 

“I got an A in math,” he beamed proudly, momentarily ignoring her demeanour and handing her the proof. But then he had to know. “What’s wrong?”

 

“What makes you say that?” They’d lived together for months, but she still didn’t seem to expect him to notice when she was upset, it was slightly strange. Her failure to comment on his math despite him catching her out confirmed it too. Something was really wrong.

 

The math paper dangled from her hand, unnoticed, as she tried to explain. “We… we were contacted,” she began, briefly making Daniel hope that she was going to start talking about aliens – because that always made grown ups upset. “…by social services.”

 

Daniel grimaced. Not that he had real reason to dislike them, after all they’d found him Fen, and his new Mum and Dad, but his memories of the time immediately after his real parents’ deaths were still painful and inextricably intertwined with social services – naturally.

 

“What did they want?”

 

The woman paused again, igniting Daniel’s impatience. What? What? He felt a bit like shaking her to loosen the words up.

 

“We wanted you.” All too abruptly, Daniel was no longer alone with his new, if rather hard to interrogate, Mother and instead faced by a taller, scarier woman with a thin face and dark but greying hair. Someone, he felt, was entirely unsuitable to be dealing with children unless it was in some sort of horror story. It was a good thing he was used to tombs.

 

“Who’re you?”

 

“I’m Mrs Dawes, I work for social services.”

 

Daniel frowned. “Shouldn’t you be someone I know if you’re from social services?”

 

Mrs Dawes chuckled, a sound that didn’t seem to have regularly passed her lips. “Social services has different branches, your last social worker was from central New York, young man you can’t expect to know all of the social workers in the state.”

 

“Still, it…”

 

“…Daniel.” His new Dad, up until now silent on the matter, gently butted in. “I’m not sure that the internal workings of the social system is really the point now, is it?”

 

Daniel opened his mouth to tell him that it depended what the scary woman wanted, then caught his eye and thought better of it. Time to be direct instead, he could really do with knowing what was going on. “Why are you here?” Without flinching, the 9 year old turned to the still looming social worker.

 

“Good news!” she declared, again pulling an expression that was probably a smile but didn’t seem entirely comfortable on her face.

 

It was strange, Daniel noted, that neither of his parents seemed to think the news was good at all.

 

“We’ve found you a permanent home.”

 

Worried now, Daniel glanced at his Mum again, his new Mum – the one he’d got quite used to, and despite her failings rather liked. “Here?” He held onto hope, but then why was she so sad?

 

“No, no,” Mrs Dawes didn’t seem to care about the reactions of the people around her. “Mr and Mrs Turner only foster children, they’re not registered to adopt a second child.”

 

“We were in the process of…” put in his Mum, slightly timidly, the tremor in her voice betraying how she felt about this deal. Despite the situation, Daniel found himself warmed by it – at least she really did care. He hadn’t been thrown out.

 

“A perfect match has been found,” continued Mrs Dawes, ignoring the interruption. “You need to be ready to leave right away.”

 

Daniel’s heart sank further. Now? What about…? “I can’t leave now,” he dug his heels in. “Fen’s not even here! And it’s her birthday tomorrow, I need to finish her present and play with it with her.” He paused. “I need to say goodbye.”

 

“You must leave now,” insisted Mrs Dawes. “It’s a long drive and you have to allow me time to get home at a reasonable hour myself. Would you be so selfish as to make a woman work well into the night?”

 

In Mrs Dawes’ case Daniel would willingly be that selfish, although he knew enough not to mention that. Still. “I’m not leaving without seeing Fen,” he repeated.

 

Leaving his parents aghast, Mrs Dawes picked Daniel up, and wrapping an arm round his waist hauled him out of the door.

 

“You can’t…” began his Dad.

 

“Of course I can,” replied Mrs Dawes, managing to remove an official looking piece of paper from her inside jacket pocket despite Daniel’s struggling. “If you would be so good as to collect Daniel’s things.”

 

Tears flooding down his Mum’s cheeks, reflecting Daniel’s own, she handed him his math test. “You should keep this. It should go on the fridge somewhere,” she told him.

 

Daniel shook his head. “I want it to go on _your_ fridge.” And he did, what would it mean to some new family who barely knew him. As Mrs Dawes moved to the doorway, he struggled round to knock a pair of lumps out of his pocket and onto the floor, craning his neck to give his Mum one last message. Or to Mrs Turner, he supposed she wasn’t really his Mum anymore. “Those are for Fen,” he whispered, “Tell her happy birthday.”

 

It really should have been the best birthday present ever, but Daniel had a feeling that it wasn’t artefacts Fen was going to spend her birthday digging for after all.

 

Against all odds, there was something just a tiny bit encouraging about that.

 


	3. Chapter 3

1974

 

The argument had flared up again. “How could you?! Why do we always have to do this.” Sam found herself mouthing the words along with them, although it was anything but funny. Mark really didn’t want to leave. Again.

 

But then she could understand that. Mark was the one with friends, a social life. He had people to leave behind. Sam just had books, and people from the same class as her brother who thought that she was geeky and too young to be interesting. Books were easy to move –mostly – although she had to admit she’d noticed her Dad complaining a little about the weight of some of her boxes the last time they’d moved.

 

So this time she was concentrating on maximising space utilised whilst balancing weight distribution. It had provided quite the challenge, calculation-wise, given the irregularities of her GI Joe set and various airfix rockets, but the calculations were done and now all Sam had to do was final placement.

 

Tedious, but satisfying, since it provided her with the opportunity to test her theory.

 

Magic cube. Box 4, check.

 

Diabolical dice puzzle. Box 9, check.

 

Lego rocket. Box 2, check. Sam frowned, this was really quite a complex multivariate optimisation problem. Still, she shrugged, her Dad would be less likely to notice minor variations in weight than he would her not packing because she’d stopped to recalculate. Especially given the mood he was likely to be in after the latest few rounds with Mark.

 

Still, the density of the lego was very variable…. Maybe if she stuck it all together into a cube…

 

“Sam!” Sam flinched. Apparently the fight was over, she’d missed the end.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Are you getting on with that packing?”

 

“Yes, Dad.” Sam was firm. Well, she wasn’t lying. Hastily, she shoved the papers containing her latest calculations into box 1. It had been on the light side anyway.

 

“Good girl.” She could hear him trying not to sound angry after his row with Mark. Desperately trying not to pass it on to her or her Mum. She knew he didn’t think she understood, but she was 12, not stupid – just because Mark didn’t get it and he was older.

 

Dad had to move, it was important.

 

                                                            *****

 

As the movers drove off with all her belongings other than a ratty exercise book, her space pen and her favourite encyclopaedia, Sam’s distractions finally wore off and she was sorry to be leaving.

 

Rome, NY had been interesting. The countryside was nice. Her school wasn’t too bad. And she had a friend.

 

Not an invite round friend, that would be weird, even if it would have cheered her parents up. But a friend nonetheless.

 

Her name was Annie, and she was a librarian in the local library. Better than that, she was interested in all the same stuff as Sam. She could tell Sam where to find all the best reading material, and more than that, she understood what Sam was getting at when she started talking about some of her wilder theories on how everything worked.

 

Annie was brilliant. Not Sam brilliant, even at 12 Sam was well aware that she wasn’t likely to wind up working in a library. But Annie was a well hidden kind of brilliant, and Sam was really going to miss her for it. All the times they’d talked about why the homework the teacher had set was all wrong – and Sam had been able to let off steam without getting into trouble. Or the times they’d set up crazy experiments in Annie’s little apartment and set the fire alarm off.

 

Just once, it would be nice to not understand and really have a go at her Dad.

 

Sam kept quiet. With just a few hours until they left, Sam set off to the library on foot, leaving behind her promises to be back in plenty of time. Mark was still off sulking somewhere, so her parents had to be tolerant of Sam’s need to get away herself, but still she could see she was treading on thin ice. Despite the added burden of needing to walk rather than cycle like usual, Sam knew she had to be back on time.

 

Annie understood anyway, Sam knew she did, but that didn’t really make leaving any easier. Sam understood too, it didn’t mean she wanted to go.

 

They didn’t talk much. When Sam arrived, tears already filling her eyes, she and Annie simply sat in a silence they didn’t normally find in the library, holed up on the floor next to the astronomy and astrophysics books where almost none of the other occupants of the library ever dared to venture.

 

“I’d give you these if I could,” Annie waved at the rows of books before them. “You’ve got so much more out of them than anyone else who’s ever been here.”

 

Sam smiled weakly, understanding, again. “I don’t want to go,” she finally said, admitting what she’d never been able to tell anyone else, not in all of the moves before and not this time either.

 

“You’ll do great things one day,” said Annie quietly, “then you can come back and tell me about them. And add a few of your own books to the library. I’ll make a note to be looking out for them.”

 

“I don’t want to do great things at the moment,” sniffled Sam. “I just want to enjoy things here.”

 

“You’ll get it straight at the new place,” began Annie, interrupted by an unexpected cough behind the stacks. Shuffling round in surprise, Sam took a peek and saw a tall man with short, light brown hair and very notable, solid black boots.

 

“There’s someone here,” whispered Sam, mirroring Annie’s raised eyebrows. “I should go anyway,” she added reluctantly, realising that on foot she was already running close to her curfew.

 

Annie pulled her in for a hug, without saying anything more, then as Sam raced off out of the library for good, she turned her attention to the man behind the stacks.

 

Except he was gone.

 

Sam was practically running. She’d known before setting off that she hadn’t had much time to get to the library and back, but on seeing Annie she’d nearly forgotten about it. It was probably a good job that man had shown up, she panted to herself, pausing to wait for the lights at a busy intersection but still taking the time to will them to change just a little faster.

 

When the crosswalk finally changed in her favour, she still nearly got mowed down by a dark green saloon car turning right.

 

It did nothing for her ability to give the impression she had never been in danger of being late at all when she saw her Mum and Dad again.

 

                                                            *****

 

Sam sat in the front garden, her legs crossed and a weighty encyclopaedia resting on them. She was pretty sure her right leg had gone to sleep, but for the moment she didn’t really care. She missed Annie, but so far Colorado Springs wasn’t too bad.

 

School was mediocre, but then it was never easy being ahead – worse if you kept moving and were in the same class as your brother. In other words, mediocre was really a step up. She’d even seen someone from her class walk past the garden earlier and he hadn’t so much as taunted her – he’d even given a slight nod of the head.

 

In Sam’s world, that was practically a written recommendation from a classmate. She looked up again, wondering if he’d pass again on the way back, or even if another classmate would happen to be passing by.

 

But no, just the odd car. A red hatchback. A green saloon. A black jeep.

 

Sam frowned. She had quite a good memory for cars, and registration plates.

 

Wasn’t that the car she saw in New York?


	4. Chapter 4

1974

 

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Charlie Kawalsky looked up at his taller friend. “Jack, take a moment to appreciate it, it’s not every day we’re going to be doing the trek.”

 

Jack grunted. “It’d better not be, I’ve heard the food’s awful.”

 

“Come on, you know you’re enjoying this. I’m just suggesting you take a minute to breathe it all in. Next time you do something like this you could be shot at for real!”

 

“Thanks Charlie, just the encouragement I needed,” grinned Jack, carefully positioning a twig in his hair at a particularly jaunty angle. “To set off the makeup,” he explained, referring to his camouflage face paint.

 

“Nice,” nodded Charlie. “Just the sort of thing the squirrels will be looking out for.”

 

Jack lashed out half-heartedly, missing as Charlie saw him coming and ducked. “Cheek.”

 

Charlie grinned back, stretching his arms out wide and taking a deep breath of the mountain air. “There,” he breathed. “The end of our first year. No more being ‘doolies,’ no more restrictions. It’s going to be great.”

 

“Just got to spend three days trekking across Jack’s Valley avoiding the upperclassmen,” Jack joined in. “Piece of cake.”

 

“They’re not as good as they think they are.” A third voice interrupted them.

 

Both cadets started, their senses already a little on edge, despite the banter. “Who’re you?” asked Charlie, bluntly.

 

“Harry Maybourne.” The third cadet gave them a small, slightly sloppy salute. “I’m your third.”

 

“But you’re not even in our squadron,” protested Jack. “I’ve never laid eyes on you before.”

 

“So I’m easily missed,” shrugged Harry. “That’s not such a bad property in these circumstances, don’t you think, Jack?”

 

Charlie shrugged. “The man might have a point, Jack. He doesn’t look lost.”

 

Jack frowned, clearly not so convinced. “We were told someone from our squadron.”

 

“I am, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” pointed out Harry.

 

“In that case you’ve only just arrived. You’re not allowed to just dive in here, you’ve got to go through BCT, get through the whole of fourth class, you can’t start at SERE training.”

 

“So you say.” Harry shrugged. “But you might not want to go round being so certain about what’s allowed, Jack. It can land you in trouble.”

 

Jack raised his eyebrows, glancing at Charlie then back at Harry. “You’re threatening me?”

 

“No.” Harry didn’t elaborate. “I’m bringing supplies and informing you that I’m on your team.” He held out a meagre selection of MREs and some beef jerky.

 

Charlie glanced back at Jack, who was still clearly in two minds. “Welcome to the team, Harry. Obviously we’re the best.”

 

“Obviously.” Harry didn’t take his eyes off Jack.

 

“Right.” Jack finally seemed to come out of his trance. “Welcome to the team, Harry.” Taking the proffered food, he held out his handful of twigs in a peace offering. “Here, have some camouflage. I hear the squirrels love it.”

 

                                                ********

 

Squish. Splot. Squelch. Splush.

 

“Ugh,” grunted Jack, removing his hand from yet another elbow-deep puddle. “Are you sure you saw someone checking us out?”

 

“Yes,” responded Charlie, taking a moment to wipe the rain from his face as it continued to lash down at them. “I admire their timing too. Anyone would think they did it on purpose.”

 

“Of course they did it on purpose,” said Harry scornfully, behind the two of them. “They want to see if you-we are up to the task, what would be the fun if it was beautifully sunny.”

 

“They did a rain dance?” asked Jack.

 

“I admit, they might occasionally have to concede to nature,” replied Harry. “Still, if you’re fed up of this we can always go with my solution.” He quirked an eyebrow at the two of them as they turned and looked at him in mild disgust. “What? You didn’t like it? I’m hurt.”

 

“It did have a certain style,” grinned Charlie. “I get the feeling they wouldn’t feel it was quite in the spirit of things though.”

 

“They’d only worry if they realised,” shrugged Harry, taking a moment to withdraw the luminous umbrella slightly from his pack. “I have the complete tourist disguise with me.”

 

“It’s not right,” objected Jack, calmly, knowing full well that Charlie agreed with him – despite the temptation of not being quite as wet for a few minutes. “The whole of the rest of our time here would be based on a lie.”

 

“Ingenuity,” put in Harry. “There’d be no lying involved.”

 

Jack shuddered, unsure whether it was from cold or the thought of by-passing intended – if not explicitly stipulated – protocol. “It’d feel like lying.”

 

“Spy ops,” chuckled Charlie. “Somehow I don’t figure on James Bond using that get up.”

 

Harry let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, fine, have it your way – I made the offer. I fully expect you to visit me in the infirmary when I’m stuck there with pneumonia though.”

 

“Would it have TV?” asked Jack. “What? I like the Flintstones!” he added as Harry and Charlie both gave him a dirty look.

 

“Now that makes sense,” nodded Harry. “Fred and Barney,” he motioned to Jack then Charlie.

 

“As long as that doesn’t make you Wilma,” Jack responded off-handedly as he once more took out his binoculars and peered over the ridge. “All clear. There’s no sign of them, they’ve moved off.”

 

“Ahh…. Easier pickings elsewhere,” grinned Charlie, standing slowly and stretching his sodden limbs. “Good job, I think my uniform’s starting to rot.”

 

“Wondered what the smell was,” laughed Jack, equally relieved.

 

“Could all have been avoided,” added Harry, waggling the brightly coloured umbrella around teasingly at the others.

 

“That’s OK,” said Jack. “We can use that to start the fire later. I think it’s the only dry thing we’ve got.”

 

                                                            *******

 

“Jack! Harry! Wake up!” Charlie’s urgent voice broke into both young men’s dreams, ignored until the owner of the voice started shaking both of them. “Wake up,” hissed Charlie again. “I think there’s someone on our tail.”

 

“What’s up?” mumbled Jack, sitting up rigidly straight in his sleeping bag with his eyes still firmly closed. “You were on watch?”

 

“Sure, Jack. And I watched, and there was actually something to see.”

 

“What did you see?” asked Harry, now looking marginally more coherent than Jack, albeit still lying down and with only one eye open.

 

“Shadows,” answered Charlie. “Rustling noises, movement, that sort of thing.”

 

“Could be a bear,” offered Harry.

 

“And that would be reason to stay in bed, how?” asked Jack, his eyes finally open.

 

“I’m thinking they’re going to be here any minute if you two don’t get your asses in gear,” grumbled Charlie.

 

“We’re up,” chorused Jack and Harry, both of them finally emerging from their sleeping bags and into the cool, but mercifully dry, night.

 

The woods were dark, darker than it would have been on open ground, and for several minutes the three cadets stood peering in turn through the binoculars as they tried to detect whatever had spooked Charlie.

 

“You’re just paranoid Charlie, there’s nothing there,” declared Harry, after several minutes of careful listening.

 

“Sure, I just sat there minding my own business, thinking up excuses to wake you two up for the company,” protested Charlie. “Because you’re obviously such good company.”

 

“I think I might see something,” whispered Jack. “Probably not a bear.”

 

“Crap, are we caught?” Charlie reached for the binoculars again, only to have Jack bat his hand away.

 

“Who is it?” asked Harry. “I have a certain level of respect amongst the upper-classmen you know, I can’t let just anyone catch me.”

 

Jack exhaled loudly, then followed up with a loud, burp. “Oof, those MREs are something else.”

 

“What?! Forget the MREs, Jack. Who is it?” asked Charlie, Harry stood right at his shoulder.

 

“Giant man-eating squirrel I think,” grinned Jack. “Might have stolen one of my uniform twigs, but otherwise of no obvious association to the air force. I think we’re in the clear.”

 

“Nice, Jack,” Charlie rolled his eyes.

 

“You’ve been on watch too long,” Jack responded cheerfully. “I’d better take my turn. I’ll wake you in a few hours, Harry.”

 

                                                            ********

 

Harry yawned. “I can’t believe you got us up in the night for a squirrel!”

 

“A deadly, combat squirrel,” replied Charlie good-naturedly. “Besides, I think I have just the thing to cheer you up.” He gestured to a barely visible clearing just a little way down the mountainside. “I think we may be flanking another crew of cadets. Up for a little bit of fun?”

 

Harry grinned. “What’re you thinking?”

 

“Nothing major, just ruffle a few feathers, keep them on their toes.”

 

Jack joined in. “Know any good battle cries?”

 

Charlie chuckled. “Yabbadabbado?”

 

Harry sighed. “You know if you’re going to do it, you need to do it properly. You need to be official, not ready to be committed.”

 

“OK, I’ll bite.” Jack nodded. “What’d make us sound official?”

 

“I have just the thing.” Harry began rooting round in his apparently bottomless rucksack, finally withdrawing a radio.

 

“We have those,” observed Jack.

 

“Not like this we don’t,” grinned Harry smugly. “This is a non-limited version, we can listen in on the instructors. And maybe just loud enough that they can hear us coming.”

 

“Sweet,” said Jack, ignoring the churning in his gut in the hope that it was merely a reaction to the MREs again.

 

“Let’s go then, guys, before they get out of range,” prodded Charlie, eager for the opportunity to enjoy a practical joke, particularly one that wasn’t on him.

 

As they closed in on the other group’s position, Jack was fast coming to the conclusion that these were the slowest, sloppiest cadets in history. The tracks they were leaving behind them could have been followed by a four year old and their pace could easily have been matched by his elderly granny. It was troubling. Granted, he didn’t know all of the cadets in his class, there were something like 700 of them, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that any of them could be that bad.

 

Harry reached for the radio, his thumb poised to switch it on, just as Jack’s brain finally made the connection he needed. Knocking the radio to the ground, and well out of reach of Harry’s thumb, Jack hissed. “Run!”

 

Charlie followed, knowing full well that he could trust Jack’s instincts. Harry paused, not least to retrieve his prized radio, when he heard the sound of another radio, clearly operating on the same frequency.

 

“Check, we have signs of another group of cadets over here. We’ll take a few minutes to confirm then get back to you, over.”

 

Forgetting the radio, Harry ran in Jack and Charlie’s wake, quickly eating up the distance between them in his hurry to evade capture. He stopped only when he ran smack into the back of Jack, leaving the taller cadet off-balance enough to fall against a young, pretty tourist he’d frightened the life out of in the woods and had, up until that moment, been doing a reasonable job of apologising to.

 

“Jack, allow me.” Harry squeezed past his team-mate, still red in the face and panting slightly. “Miss, I’m afraid it was entirely my fault, I was startled and ran into the back of our friend here, he didn’t at all mean to touch anything he shouldn’t have.”

 

“He didn’t,” observed the girl, apparently quite amused by Harry’s apology. “He was just trying to persuade me to meet up with him later for a better explanation, although I’ve met a few flyboys before, so I have a feeling it’d come out classified.”

 

“Well, if you’d rather we…”

 

Jack coughed.

 

“Sorry,” Harry stopped mid-sentence. “I don’t know that it would be so classified an apology wouldn’t be fun,” he tried, looking back at Jack to see how he’d reacted.

 

The girl too, only seemed to be looking at Jack anyway. She even gave him her number.

 

Walking away, neither Charlie nor Harry could resist comment. “Unusual approach to dating, Jack,” quipped Charlie. “Are you saying you don’t get out enough to meet girls under regular circumstances? You need to be checking them out in the woods instead.”

 

“I’ll take what I can get,” shrugged Jack. “Girl who’s out in the woods is at least going to be interesting.”

 

“Plus you’ve got that apology as a conversation starter,” put in Harry.

 

“Oh, I’m not apologising for that,” smirked Jack. “Come on, cover your tracks, guys. We need to send the instructors off in the wrong direction, and give me something much better to grovel about.”

 

Charlie chucked. “You’d better be really good at ass-kissing Jack, she’s really not going to be pleased.”

 

“What was her name?” asked Harry, unexpectedly.

 

“Sara, why?”

 

“Just wanted to have a name to put with the black eye. That is, if she doesn’t stand you up, I’m sure those extra privileges chasing after her are very appealing to a girl.”

 

                                                            ********

 

Jack lay back in the glorious sunshine, the weather for once perfectly matching his mood. His boots, still caked in mud from their adventure, stood a few feet away, their odours well clear of Jack’s nose as his bare feet took the opportunity for a well-earned rest. They’d made it.

 

Better than that. He’d met the most beautiful, interesting girl he’d ever seen.

 

Oh yes, today was a very good day.

 

A shadow passed over him, shuffling over with a slight groan and then a lengthy sigh of relief as another pair of boots joined his on the grass. “Hey Jack.”

 

“Harry.” Jack didn’t open his eyes, he was enjoying the daydream too much to disrupt it for the moment.

 

“It’s been a pleasure.”

 

Finally looking up at his new friend, Jack took the proffered hand. “Likewise,” he responded, truthfully. Because it really had been a good day, and even if they might disagree about the odd thing, Harry had been a part of that.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

1975

 

Daniel was puzzled. Make that bewildered. His forehead crinkled, it was hard to find a good word to describe how he felt. Other than the obvious, he mentally kicked himself, the obvious was something he was trying not to think about.

 

Confused maybe – and homesick.

 

Flabbergasted (and homesick).

 

Befuddled (and homesick), that was a good one.

 

His new sister made no sense.

 

Actually, technically, he hadn’t quite got to grips with any of his new family yet, despite several months with them, but today it was Elisha who’d really been giving him a headache.

 

Needless to say, his new sister wasn’t quite like Fen, and although he’d reminded himself on several occasions that it was unfair to judge any of his new family harshly simply because he missed Fen and the Turners, he had to admit he wasn’t all that experienced at breaking in new families and this second one was proving to be monumentally hard work.

 

It wasn’t Martha and Hank – not really. Hank was strict, but that hadn’t really caused any problems other than an inability to see eye-to-eye with Daniel over sports and Martha seemed nice enough. Daniel could see that maybe she was a little bit lonely, despite her husband and 3 other kids, and wanted very much for him to be a friend. He was willing certainly, but if Martha was going to be his friend, who would be his Mum? It was something that had been worrying him.

 

Maybe he was old enough not to need a Mum anymore? A kid at school had said that hanging round with your Mum was something little boys did, bigger boys played with their Dads. He supposed that might sort of make sense. Although he didn’t think he’d be doing much hanging round with his new Dad. Or his brother.

 

His new brother, Paul, had as far as Daniel could tell taken an immediate dislike to him. It was odd. Daniel had wracked his brains for things he might have done/said/broken to cause the problem but so far he’d come up with nothing more significant than breathing, and that didn’t really seem like sufficient justification. Still, Paul was 17 and mad on sports, so to be honest it hadn’t been difficult to stay out of his way. Daniel figured at this rate they’d probably be speaking to each other by the time Daniel graduated college.

 

Daniel shrugged. That was OK – he’d probably get on fine with his older brother – the one who was away at college already and he hadn’t met yet because he’d even been away over Christmas. If there was a requirement to spend a lot of time in the company of the male members of his family, then the guy who’d gone to college would make a lot of sense anyway. Daniel was certain he was going to come back for the Easter holidays with a whole load of interesting stuff to tell him about. He’d already started thinking about useful archaeological facts relating to Easter that his brother might find interesting. He was very prepared.

 

So, Daniel wound back. He’d befriended Martha, but missed out on a Mother. He’d achieved a truce with Hank and decided to avoid Paul until they were both able to grow a beard. His oldest brother was clearly going to work out fine. So that just left Elisha.

 

His 14 year old sister.

 

Elisha wasn’t in his class, but as Daniel had been pushed up a few classes, she was in his school. In fact, he got the impression she was the queen of the middle school. She certainly seemed to have a lot of followers. He had briefly wondered if being related to the queen made him a prince or something, when he’d first arrived, but Elisha and a few of her entourage had quickly set that straight and these days he usually steered clear of her at school. But he was the new guy, which he figured made it his job to make an effort.

 

So when they were making Valentine’s Day cards in class, Daniel had thought it would be a good idea to make one for Elisha. He’d done it successfully for Fen and Mrs Turner, they’d been really pleased, he figured it was the perfect overture of friendship for a new sibling.

 

Aware that, despite his brains, his coordination skills weren’t quite up to those of the rest of his class, Daniel had laboured over the card at length, missing the call for the end of art class as he bit his lip in concentration trying to keep his colouring within the lines. Even after the end of school, he’d taken it home to work on some more, just so that when they came to distribute the cards throughout the school his would look just as good as anyone else’s.

 

He hadn’t wanted to embarrass her by giving her a lousy card.

 

When the time had finally come to deliver the cards, Daniel had been positively excited. Elisha was bound to like the card, he’d put hours into colouring the heart in just right, and telling her why he was pleased to have a big sister like her in his very best handwriting. He’d even added the odd phrase of cuneiform, because he thought it added an exotic decorative edge to the card. It was perfect.

 

Or not.

 

Elisha, when he caught up with her, hadn’t seemed too impressed.

 

It had been on the way home. He’d seen her alone and walking ahead of him, so he’d called out to her, confident that she’d be pleased to see him, despite the fact that they were still technically in public. Instead, as she’d turned to face him he’d caught an angry expression on her face, and to his horror she’d slowly withdrawn the card from her bag before shredding into small pieces on the ground in front of him and storming off, yelling something along the lines of  “don’t you ever embarrass me like that again,” over her shoulder.

 

So Daniel was perplexed.

 

He knew he ought to go home, but somehow he just couldn’t bring his feet to go that way. He knew it wasn’t bad, lots of kids didn’t get on well with their brothers and sisters, but he’d been so hopeful.

 

He sighed. He knew what he’d been hoping, and he’d known it’d been unlikely.

 

It really had been nice to hope though.

 

Slowly, digging in his pocket, he pulled out a picture of Fen grinning wildly at some piece of mischief that had completely terrified Daniel at the time but now held him in awe. Finally, still gazing at her picture, he dug out a small envelope buried in his book bag, its postmark stamped just a few days ago. It had arrived that morning and he’d been saving opening it for just the right moment.

 

A small, mostly red, card fell out, covered in excited, messy scribbles and rough sketches of treasure maps and pirates.

 

Daniel grinned.

 

It was all fine. He still had a sister, no school queen was going to change that.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

1975

 

Sam dove into the bush, only belatedly thinking to check that it wasn’t a prickly one. She shook her head, she was really going to have to get her head on straight, James Bond never showed up covered in scratches just because he’d not checked his bushes out properly first.

 

Smirking slightly, she admitted to herself that James Bond probably didn’t get into trouble with his Mum for ripping his pants either, although she supposed Q did sometimes complain. Sam didn’t blame him, Q made some of the best gadgets she’d seen, and her Dad was in the Air Force so she’d seen some pretty impressive gadgets.

 

Deciding that the coast was clear, she rolled, then scrambled away from the bush once more, taking the time to get a good grip on her home-modified laser sighted water pistol (taking gravity and water pressure into account and accurate to 50 yards), she darted across the deserted street, diving again as she reached a low hedge and clicking her walkie talkie into life.

 

“All clear at Mrs – err – Lewis’s hedge,” she whispered into her walkie talkie, receiving no response, although she hadn’t really expected one. Mark wasn’t into this sort of game anymore, he said he was too old, and she hadn’t yet got to know any of the kids her age at school. The ones in her grade certainly wouldn’t be interested.

 

Crawling on elbows and knees, with her stomach low to the ground, she managed to squeeze herself through one of the larger gaps in the hedge, pulling down her green woollen hat to shield her face from anyone who might be watching as her head emerged on the other side. Still no sign of anyone to shoot at though. Sam was slightly disappointed, she had been vaguely hoping to see some of the really obnoxious kids in her class at school. Just so she could use the laser sight on them, she wouldn’t squirt any actual water. At least, not without provocation. It wasn’t right to shoot an unarmed opponent, anyone knew that.

 

She corrected herself, anyone with half a brain. Those morons in her class hadn’t thought twice about clipping the side of her ear with some sort of catapult, and her Dad hadn’t even let her go back to retaliate.

 

“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” Sam reminded herself, realising belatedly that she was speaking aloud whilst still technically trespassing in a barely familiar neighbour’s garden and would therefore be best left undiscovered. No one emerged from the house.

 

No one came down the road either, just a few passing cars going about their business and an elderly lady shuffling by with her wheeled shopping bag. Certainly no one she could remotely justify testing her water pistol on.

 

Slinging her weapon over her shoulder, Sam shinned up a large weeping willow tree occupying the majority of the garden she now found herself in and providing both cover and an excellent vantage point for spotting targets. Hopefully, the house’s occupants wouldn’t notice her hanging from their precious tree until she’d had the opportunity to get at least the odd moron in her sights.

 

And obviously evaded capture – that went without saying.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Sam’s legs were beginning to cramp up from holding her precarious position in the tree, she was cold and she had to admit she was getting spectacularly bored. Without even the whiff of a target, other than briefly toying with the idea of aiming at the neighbour’s yappy dog, Sam figured even the most dedicated spy would have got a little bored. Certainly James Bond never sat still for so long in any of his movies.

 

Nonetheless, relinquishing her hiding place without making proper use of it, or having to be home, didn’t seem right, so Sam hung on gamely for several minutes, debating the pros and cons of climbing down, going home and doing something else entirely or taking an alternative approach to her current game, when she saw a girl close to her age wandering past with a hot chocolate.

 

She knew it was hot chocolate the moment she saw it, recognising the takeaway cup from a bakers down the road, but as she caught a whiff of the smell when the girl passed beneath her, it was all Sam could do not to jump straight out of the tree and start running towards the shop. Keeping her head, it still took only moments for Sam to come down from her perch, landing on the ground with the ease of an experienced tree climber and instantly taking off in the direction of the bakers. Her game was all but forgotten.

 

The bakery was crowded but warm, and Sam found that despite the time she spent standing in line it was nice to be inside. The people all seemed so pleasant, chatting away to each other as though they were all old friends, and as the warmth of both the company and the store’s radiators flowed through her she found herself feeling completely relaxed with her environment. Something she hadn’t felt since she’d waved goodbye to Annie back in New York.

 

Stepping outside the store was a different matter. As the blast of cold air hit her, the hot chocolate in her hand still too warm to comfortably drink, Sam found herself glancing to her right, wondering why the tall, thin man hovering outside hadn’t just gone inside with everyone else.

 

Ignoring her Dad’s clear instructions never to talk to strangers, just as she had done for the last few minutes inside, Sam opened her mouth to politely suggest that he might be much happier inside, since he didn’t seem to have any business outside, when she recognised him.

 

At first it was just a little spark of recognition. One of those things that can go on for days as you poke and prod it, desperately trying to summon up a memory. But Sam had a good memory, and sparks like that didn’t always take her too long to figure out, especially given where her mind had been wandering.

 

Back to that last day in New York, in the library with Annie.

 

“You’re the man in the library,” she gasped, the car that she’d just mentioned in passing to her Dad now taking on a whole new significance. Throwing the still too hot hot chocolate at the man before he realised that she was onto him, Sam sprinted in the opposite direction - towards her home.

 

Behind her, she knew the man had noticed. That he’d realised even before she’d thrown the hot chocolate. There’d been something in his eyes telling her that he knew she’d made him, and Sam was pretty confident that made him dangerous. More dangerous than a random stalker, as if that wasn’t bad enough.

 

What could a grown man possibly want to follow her halfway across the country for?

 

She shook her head, shaking the thought right out of her mind for the moment. She thought she’d heard the slam of a car door and he undoubtedly knew where she lived, she was going to have to be quick. No time for debate.

 

She streaked across the gardens of a string of nicely maintained houses, diving over hedges when she had to and just barely hurdling a series of pretty picket fences and flower borders, not caring whether anyone saw her. Shooting through an open gate she passed some smaller children playing in their back yard, scrambling over the wall at the back of their garden to a series of appreciative cheers and narrowly missing a large, partially frozen pond.

 

Taking the next open gate, she surged once more into the open, crossing the next road and sending up a brief prayer of thanks that she hadn’t wandered far from home this afternoon as she took a familiar alleyway that led almost all the way to her parents’ house and safety.

 

If only the man wasn’t waiting at the other end of that alleyway.

 

Sam couldn’t help it. As her legs pounded on the rough surface, the fences and hedges beside her seemed to close in, exaggerating how enclosed the space truly was. She swung her water pistol into her hand, afraid to even pause long enough to glance at it but greatly reassured by the presence of even such a meagre weapon. The mystery man hadn’t been big, but he was certainly more than a match for a 12 year old girl, and Sam knew it.

 

She kept up the pace, ignoring the burning stitch in her side and the ragged panting of her breath and she forced herself to keep going. She had to make it past the end of the alleyway, he was bound to guess she’d take that route.

 

A mistake, she knew, but somehow too many random gardens had been pushing her luck. She knew at least one of the neighbours kept a guard dog.

 

Maybe she could set it on this guy?

 

Finally she made it out of the alleyway, free of any grasping fingers - to her enormous relief. She glanced down the street, ready to launch across with just 100 yards to go, when she saw the car. It was the black jeep, and it was headed right for her.

 

Gritting her teeth, Sam knew there was nothing she could do. All or nothing, she just had to make it. There were no neighbours she knew well enough to hideaway and get them to fetch her Dad, not yet. She just had to make it home.

 

Then, at last, a stroke of luck. As the jeep drove towards her, the little old lady with her shopping cart started across the road right in front of it. Sam could have kissed her, she didn’t know how but that old lady had to have known what she was doing. There was no way she’d normally leap out in front of traffic like that.

 

The man was out of the jeep and on foot, leaving Sam with a final push to make. But she would, she couldn’t fail here. Yelling as she went, bringing both her Mum and her brother out of the house and mercifully stopping her tail in his tracks – at least for the moment – Sam made her last dash to safety. Then, just as she reached them and was starting to worry that her Dad wasn’t with them, he pulled into the driveway.

 

Barely pausing to allow him to open the door, Sam flung her arms round him.

 

“Daddy!”

 

She had never been so relieved in her life.

 


	7. Chapter 7

1969

 

Michael groaned, twisting his head back and forth trying to shake his hair out of his face. He didn’t want to know why his hands seemed to be pinned to the chair he was sitting on, or anything about why he might be there in the first place, that was just too far out. For the moment, he was going to stick with seeing what was going on.

 

Eventually, a hefty shake of the head, accompanied by an enthusiastic exhale pushed his hair out of the way, leaving him only needing to lean his head back to get a good look through his glasses as they slid down his nose.

 

“Hmm?”

 

Michael was taken aback.

 

He’d been hoping to see Jenny. Not that Jenny was known for her dominatrix tendencies – whoa, strange image – but her brother was definitely into his practical jokes and from what he remembered of the last few hours…

 

Wait. Michael frowned. Since when did Jenny’s brother actually knock him out?

 

Now sneaking up on him in his sleep, sure. The dude did that sort of thing all the time, but actual concussion, he didn’t think so.

 

Michael’s heartbeat stepped up a few notches.

 

Not good, man. Had someone snitched on him about Canada?

 

A tall man with light brown hair stepped in front of him, all but blocking the light from the single light bulb.

 

He smiled, but Michael noticed it didn’t reach his eyes.

 

“You’re going to tell me all about your trip last August,” he declared. No preamble, no doubts, he simply knew what was going to happen.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man,” protested Michael, wondering if diverting his mind onto other things and trying to convince himself he didn’t remember anything about the – well – people last August would help.

 

“That’s OK, you’ll remember.”

 

The words were amicable, even friendly, but every atom of Michael’s body knew without a single doubt that there was nothing like that intended. This man simply had will, and expected it to be obeyed.

 

“I don’t think so, man.” But Michael knew that it was only a matter of time. He wasn’t military, he didn’t know anything about resistance or anything other than peace and goodwill. A tiny speck of him, against his will, wished he’d been to the training for his conscription, although somehow he doubted even that would’ve done much good. Maybe this man was trying to make him wish he’d done what he was supposed to?

 

Michael groaned, thinking round in circles wasn’t good for his head, especially after someone had tried to play basketball with it.

 

“Who where the four people you picked up in Colorado?”

 

Four people? Oh yeah, the aliens. Or not. From a planet far, far away. Back on track, man, Michael reminded himself, wondering what on earth to do.  He looked up at his questioner.

 

Scary, sure, but as scary as Teal’c?

 

“What people?”

 

                                                            ********

 

Battered and bruised, Michael held his ground. He’d made a promise, and he was going to keep it. No matter what.

 

He was scared though. How long would they keep him there?  What would this guy do if he continued to refuse to answer? Michael might not know much about the government or military, but he had plenty of imagination.

 

When his tormentor came back, Michael found himself gritting his teeth, just to keep from blurting anything out to the guy in panic.

 

The guy, Palmer he said his name was, didn’t hit him though. Instead, he fished in his pocket and produced a familiar letter. One he’d never forget receiving.

 

“Selective Service System. Order to report for induction. The President of the United States….” Palmer, unnecessarily because Michael could remember every single word, read out to him.

 

“We could make sure you’re sent straight to the front lines,” pointed out Palmer, calmly and quietly. “Or we could ensure a quiet service making deliveries, well away from the fighting. No need to kill anyone.”

 

Michael looked up. He could?

 

“It’s up to you.”

 

Michael thought back to what Sam had said, “he’s got to make up his own mind.” It sounded so similar, but the connotations were so different. Either way, it was still true. And his mind was made up, no matter what, Michael always kept his promises.

 

He gazed back at Palmer, trying not to lose his nerve.

 

“Hamburger Hill maybe,” suggested Palmer, the paper still dangling from his fingers.

 

Michael shuddered, remembering the news reports and closing his eyes against the temptation. It would be so easy. Tell him everything he knew, walk out of here and on top of that get a nearly free pass through the war, all for betraying a group of guys he was never going to have to look in the face over it anyway.

 

Of course, he’d see them every time he closed his eyes.

 

Surely there was another way to escape this.

 

Maybe the police would find him or something…

 

Then again, the police were probably on Palmer’s side.

 

Nonetheless, there had to be another way. Even if he had to sit here til the war ended, which he supposed would be one way to avoid killing anyone.

 

Hmm. He really was going to have to visit the bathroom before that though.

 

As if aware of his discomfort, Palmer turned on his heel. “I’ll leave you to think about it.”

 

Michael was alone in the dark again.

 

                                                            ********

 

He’d thought.

 

He’d thought at length. He’d pictured the four aliens and tried to imagine if anything bad would come of them from him giving away what little information he had. Little cowardly voices kept whispering to him, “Give them up, dude. They can take care of themselves.” But they still didn’t outweigh his conscience. What if by giving them up they were hurt or killed? Wouldn’t that be just like killing them himself?

 

He screwed his eyes shut again, despite the darkness, imagining. “Jenny,” he whispered to himself. “Jenny, I’m so sorry about this love, but tell me what to do!” Wishing he could hear her voice speaking to him.

 

He could barely keep track of her sweet face, but it was comforting to imagine talking to her. To picture her there, as long as she wasn’t a captive too.

 

Get a grip, man, he reminded himself. They’ve got nothing on her.

 

Finally, surrendering the dream, he opened his eyes again, wondering if he was hallucinating as they revealed Jenny, just as he’d been imagining her.

 

“Jenny?”

 

The photograph was removed and there stood Palmer again, as humourless as ever. “Yes,” he responded.

 

“You’ve got nothing on her, man. Leave her alone.”

 

“Well that’s up to you isn’t it, Michael.” Palmer barely twitched an eyebrow, even his mouth barely seemed to move as he spoke and he made no threatening moves, yet to Michael he might as well have just whipped a chainsaw out from behind his back.

 

“You can’t touch her!”

 

Now Palmer’s face did react, just slightly – enough to convey his message anyway.

 

They could do anything they liked.

 

But Jenny had promised them too, and they’d been serious. How could he truly give them up?

 

How could he not?

 

It wasn’t a good choice.

 

                                                            ********

 

It was hard to give nothing away. So hard to keep fighting for a group of strangers who to any outsider had done little beyond provide a little gas money.

 

To an outsider.

 

To Michael and Jenny they’d brought hope, a vision of people able to take matters into their own hands. And they were friends. Not friends he could write to, or even friends he expected to see again, but friends nonetheless.

 

Could he bait Palmer into thinking he’d talk to buy time?

 

But then buy time for what?

 

Could he give titbits away? Just how much of a secret were these guys anyway? It was supposed to be an alien government they were running from… Although Michael had to admit, he didn’t really believe that. He’d told Jenny one night he’d had this far fetched idea that they were time travellers. She hadn’t laughed, just smiled sweetly and cuddled against him.

 

Michael smiled, embarrassed to realise that Palmer was back and watching him again. Could he see what Michael was thinking just from his face? Like one of those poker players who can tell when you’re bluffing. Palmer really would make a great poker player.

 

“I didn’t want to do this,” said Palmer. “But you leave us with no choice.”

 

Behind Palmer, a tall, slim man stepped through the door, his entire being radiating arrogance as he walked across the room to where Michael still sat bound to the chair. Inwardly, Michael heaved a sigh of relief, he’d been so afraid that Palmer would walk through that door with Jenny and start threatening her, or even if it wasn’t that that he’d be intending Michael himself bodily harm.

 

This man didn’t even look particularly strong.

 


	8. Chapter 8

1975

Daniel sat in the front room, a large book resting on his knees. Ordinarily he would be studying the book intently, absorbing its range of facts about the Mayans with relish, even though he had read the book repeatedly, and enjoying the feeling of closeness it gave him with his parents. Today, however, his legs were swinging with excitement so violently even attempting to concentrate on his book would inevitably have led to motion sickness.

 

Harry was coming home.

 

Martha had been excited too, Daniel had spent much of the afternoon helping her bake a cake in honour of Harry’s long overdue return, and she had done nothing but ply him with facts about his oldest foster brother. She had gone a long way to confirming Daniel’s expectations – Harry really sounded like someone he’d get on well with, and Daniel couldn’t wait to meet him.

 

The well-worn book on Mayan culture was more than a potential distraction, it was a prop that Daniel had been carefully considering ever since the cake had gone in the oven. After all, he only looked like a 10 year old, and Harry would be keen to see his real brother and sister, so Daniel figured he’d need a way to start conversation going a bit.

 

Oddly, Paul and Elisha hadn’t seen particularly excited about Harry’s arrival. He’d expected them to be even more excited than he was, but instead they just seemed to carry on like normal, he even heard Elisha complaining about a lack of space at the dining table, although he got the impression that was because Harry was bringing a friend. Apparently she was biased against Harry’s friends from past experience, but Daniel figured even if they’d been annoying when Harry was younger, surely they’d be fine now? He wasn’t worried, just one more interesting person for him to talk to.

 

It was going to be great.

 

Finally, as the heavy book leapt off his legs for the second time, the door opened and two men stepped through, each carrying what seemed like way too much stuff for just a weekend. Daniel wasn’t sure he’d had that much stuff when he’d left the Turners’ house. They didn’t look at Daniel right away, which was fair enough, they had to greet pretty much everyone else first, he realised, it was like being the newbie in a club or something, he figured. He saw Martha get her hug, and shake hands with the second man, who was called Jack. Then both Harry and Jack shook hands with Hank, and then…

 

Paul and Elisha hadn’t even hung round to say hello, Daniel realised with a start, only then recognising that that made it his turn. He stood up, the book forgotten and sliding to the floor once more, despite his plans, hitting his foot hard enough that he had to bite his lip from crying out, but he didn’t want to make a bad impression. These guys were university students, and they were tough air force cadets, he couldn’t be a wuss and complain about a book hitting his toe on their first meeting! Definitely not.

 

“Hi,” Daniel stepped forward, holding his hand out to Harry. “I’m Daniel.”

 

“Hi,” responded Harry simply, ignoring Daniel’s hand and turning back to his father.

 

Disappointed, but unwilling to concede defeat, Daniel tried again. “I’m your new foster brother.”

 

This time it was Hank who responded. “Daniel,” he warned in a tone Daniel had long learned to recognise. “We’re talking, you need to wait your turn.”

 

In his first few days, knowing that Hank was also in the air force, Daniel had rather felt that that sort of response had required him to salute at his foster father. He had discovered, however, that saluting badly was much worse than just staying out of the way and being quiet for a while.

 

Daniel sighed, wondering whether that qualified as a first impression at all, or whether it was more of a non-impression that he’d get a second attempt at later. Flopping back into his chair, he proceeded to take off his sock to ensure that his foot really was still there and all in one piece after his book had fallen on it.

 

“Hi there.”

 

Daniel looked up, surprised. He had been sure he’d been dismissed. There, bending down almost double to get to Daniel’s level, stood the second man who’d been with Harry.

 

“You must be Daniel,” he said. “I’m Jack.”

 

Hastily letting go of his foot, Daniel sprang up once more in order to shake hands properly with Jack. “Hi Jack,” he responded enthusiastically.

 

“Are you OK?” asked Jack, nodding towards Daniel’s bright red foot. “That book looks pretty heavy.”

 

Blushing, Daniel nodded, “I-I’m fine, I can handle it.”

 

“How about I take a quick look, make sure it’s OK,” whispered Jack, drawing Daniel into his conspiratorial tone. “While they’re all catching up,” he nodded to Harry with his parents.

 

“I’m sure it’s fine…” began Daniel, only then catching Jack’s wink.

 

“Come on, you’ve got to let me practice my field medic skills,” grinned Jack. “How else am I going to make sure the whole team gets home once we’re qualified?”

 

Grinning back, Daniel complied, sinking back into the chair and offering Jack his foot as he wiggled his toes. “See, it’s still working,” he pointed out.

 

“Hmmm,” said Jack. “That’s going to be a nasty bruise…. And if we compare it to the other one, I think there is a bit of swelling there. Do we need a big plaster cast, make sure it stays still to heal?”

 

Daniel’s blue eyes were huge. “It’s not…”

 

“Nah, I think that might be overkill, don’t you think. We’d be forced to carry you all over the place then and it’s obvious you can still walk. I have a better idea.”

 

Without warning, Jack began to tickle Daniel’s feet viciously, causing the boy to shriek and fly back into the armchair giggling madly. “Jack, stop! Stop!”

 

“Jack?” Harry turned away from his parents at the din. “What are you doing?”

 

“Nothing,” Jack winked at Daniel again before twisting round, shifting both his hands behind him whilst maintaining his hold on Daniel’s uninjured foot and teasing it with the promise of more tickling with a well-positioned thumb.

 

“Come on,” frowned Harry, slightly irritably. “We’ve got to get ready to go out.”

 

Sighing, Jack released Daniel’s foot, turning back and whispering again. “Later, kid, don’t think you’ve got away with it.”

 

Pulling his socks on hurriedly, but still smiling, Daniel watched them leave. It hadn’t really gone quite as he’d expected.

 

                                                            ********

 

“What were you doing with him back there?” asked Harry again.

 

“We were just messing, he’s just a kid it’s good to mess around. You don’t mess around with him?”

 

“No!” exclaimed Harry, as if genuinely horrified by the idea. “I’ve never even met him before tonight.”

 

Jack frowned. “I thought he was your brother?”

 

“Foster brother,” corrected Harry. “Someone for Mum to look after and keep her company, he’s only been here a few months and this is the first time I’ve been home. I’ve been busy.”

 

Jack swallowed back a sharp response, aware that he had yet to learn enough about the situation. Too busy to even meet his own foster brother though? “Maybe we should go back, give you chance to get to know him? He seems like a nice kid.”

 

“Why would I do that?” asked Harry. “I have enough trouble with the brother and sister I’ve got, I don’t need more. It’s not like I chose to have him.”

 

Unable to come up with a response that wouldn’t lead to him walking back to the academy, Jack shrugged. “Only child,” he finally added, by way of an explanation.

 

Harry barely seemed to register, simply manoeuvring Jack through the house, apparently still in a hurry to get ready for whatever it was he had in mind for the evening.

 

Not family bonding then, mused Jack. But then those few months he hadn’t been home would’ve meant Harry didn’t even go home for thanksgiving or Christmas, so that probably shouldn’t have been a surprise. He wondered why he had bothered to visit now – if he didn’t plan to spend time with any of his family.

 

                                                            **********

 

7am. Glancing over at his still snoring friend, Jack sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes vigorously. The night out with Harry and friends, unexpectedly including Harry’s father, had been enlightening, but Jack had been careful not to consume too much alcohol, despite the volumes freely offered. He’d had other things on his mind.

 

Naturally, some of his restraint had related to Harry’s father, Hank, being present. The man was an officer in the air force, for heaven’s sake, and some how drunk and throwing up over his shoes didn’t seem like a good way to introduce himself – despite the older man’s clear encouragement. But Jack had reasons beyond his career. Something about that little boy with the mouthful of long words and optimism had held him back. If he was going to get chance to spend time with him, it was clear it going to have to be while Harry was too hung over to care.

 

Harry groaned in his sleep and rolled over, causing Jack to flinch momentarily as he was getting dressed. Definitely a hangover, he didn’t wake and Jack slipped out of the door without further incident, silently making his way to the kitchen, hoping to find Daniel.

 

There, sat in the corner with another huge tome as Harry’s mother Martha scurried around the kitchen, sat Daniel.

 

“Morning,” called Jack, aware that sneaking in on people was typically frowned on.

 

“Oh, hi Jack, sleep well?” asked Martha, smiling at him benevolently. “I’m surprised to see you up so early, Harry and Hank aren’t usually up til noon after one of their sessions, and well Elisha and Paul are teenagers, so it’s just me and Daniel for company I’m afraid.”

 

Jack smiled. “I’ll cope. I was wondering if Daniel fancied showing me round a bit actually? A few of the local sights, possibly a playground? What do you say, kid?”

 

“That sounds lovely,” put in Martha, also turning to face Daniel, who was now staring at Jack, aghast.

 

“Really?” Daniel beamed. “Do you like museums? New York has lots of good museums.” His voice caught slightly. “Although I don’t like all of them,” he added.

 

“I can do museums,” grinned Jack. “What sort of museums do you like?” He glanced at Martha, confirming her permission as the two of them headed out of the door, each with a slice of toast in hand.

 

“Any sort, although my favourites are always history museums,” grinned Daniel, pausing for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face and glancing back to the kitchen. “It depends though, you’re just visiting, what sort of thing do you like to see?”

 

“I just like exploring, when I’m in a new place,” said Jack. “Maybe hopping on the subway and seeing where it takes me, whether it’s a museum, a playground or just some suburb I’ve never seen. It doesn’t matter, if it’s new it’s all an adventure.”

 

“Oooooh,” nodded Daniel in understanding. “My sist…., I mean my foster sister at the last place I lived at liked things like that. Can we do that? I don’t mind if we don’t see any museums, I haven’t been on an adventure for ages!”

 

“Well, in that case we definitely need to go on an adventure,” agreed Jack. “Do you think Martha will let us grab a few sandwiches just in case it takes a while to get home?”

 

“Yes!” Daniel leapt in the air exuberantly, then added. “Oh, but Jack? It’s not the sort of adventure where we’re going to get into trouble is it? I don’t like that part.”

 

“Don’t worry, kid,” Jack placed a reassuring hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “We can do lots of adventuring without ever getting into trouble. Although, you do know that a little bit of trouble is part of what makes it an adventure,” he winked, hoping that the boy understood what he was getting at. He couldn’t explain it, he had no reason to believe that Daniel was miserable, or needed his company, other than the fact that only Martha took the trouble to spend any time with him, but there was something about that hugely innocent and optimistic little face that made Jack want to get to know him. Made him want to show him just how wonderful things really could be.

 

                                                            ********

 

The subway drew into their station and as Jack watched he could see Daniel glancing round as surreptitiously as possible, looking for an old lady to help or a lost tourist, anything to prolong the adventure. Unfortunately, this time there was barely anyone on the train, and those who were there were buried in their newspapers and clearly not interested in any help the boy could provided. Jack smiled. “Come on, Daniel, I don’t think we’re needed here anymore.”

 

“I was just checking, Jack.” Daniel blushed, but his grin didn’t fade and as they stepped off the train there was still a skip in his step.

 

“I know, kid. It’s good to keep your eye out for folks, I agree with you completely,” nodded Jack, as seriously as he could manage. “Did you have a good time?”

 

“It was fantastic, Jack. I’ve never been up the Empire State building even though I’ve lived here for ages, and we could see the whole city. That was really cool,” he paused briefly. “But I think my favourite part was helping that old lady get across the road before the lights changed, it must be really scary to have to move that slowly when you live there.”

 

“I think she was really grateful,” agreed Jack. “She gave you candy after all.”

 

“If she was a stranger, should I have said no?” Daniel’s skipping stopped for a moment as he realised he’d made a potential error. “Everyone’s always saying not to take candy from strangers.”

 

“I think in this case, since you were with me and you knew exactly why she was giving you chocolate, you’re probably OK. I could take a look and see if I can fish it out of your throat if you like though?” offered Jack. “Open wide!”

 

Daniel giggled, taking a step back from Jack and clamping his teeth together. “You’ll never get my candy bar!” came the slightly muffled response.

 

“Well in that case…” began Jack, giving Daniel the most evil look he could muster, “I’m just going to have to take an alternative approach.” Launching at the boy, he had him tucked under his arm before Daniel even had chance to fight back and was racing across the road and into the park. “I’m thinking that there ought to be time for some swings before we get home anyway,” he put Daniel back on his feet. “And if there should happen to be enough swinging to dislodge an unwanted chocolate bar, so much the better.”

 

“Jack!” objected Daniel, obviously still laughing.

 

“Yes?” Jack feigned innocence.

 

“I’ll race you to the climbing frame.”  


It was good to see that Daniel’s enthusiasms weren’t exclusively reserved for books, mused Jack, watching the youngster looking completely at home swinging upside down from the climbing frame, despite those initial impressions. After all, surely even the smartest kid had a need to let off steam once in a while. He hoped that Martha took the kid out here once in a while, since none of the others seemed interested, but somehow he got the feeling that this wasn’t something Martha would do with him – or that Daniel would do alone.

 

“Jack?”

 

Jack looked round quickly. He’d been distracted by his thoughts and stopped watching Daniel. There he was, scrambling right to the top of the climbing frame. Wait. That hadn’t been Daniel, he twisted behind himself, away from the climbing frame.

 

Ah. Harry. “Harry!” Jack greeted him, taking in the sunglasses and drooping shoulders. “Good to see you’re all recovered.”  


“What are you doing here, Jack? This is a kids playground.”

 

“Just keeping Daniel company for a bit,” responded Jack easily, “didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep – although I might add it looks like someone else did.”

 

“I’ve been looking all over for you!” Harry grumbled, ignoring the jibe. “Dad’s furious.”

 

Jack frowned. He was? Why? “Right,” nodded Jack, “time to get back then, I guess. We had plans?”

 

Harry nodded. “He doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” he added.

 

Right. Strange Martha hadn’t mentioned anything though. Jack turned and yelled, making Harry jump. “Daniel!”

 

“What did you have to do that for?” his friend complained.

 

“You wanted me to leave him here?” Jack was slightly incredulous.

 

“Of course not, I just don’t think it’s necessary to draw quite so much attention.”

 

“Sorry, man, didn’t know you were so shy,” Jack chuckled, wondering what on earth was up with Harry this weekend. “Or just the hangover?” he added, amused.

 

“Let’s just get going,” grumbled Harry, through obviously gritted teeth.

 

Very, very strange. Putting an arm round Daniel’s shoulders, Jack followed Harry home. He should take a leaf from Daniel’s book, Harry and his Dad were an exciting mystery to figure out…. He rolled his eyes, muttering to himself. “Of course, at this rate it’ll probably be my life’s work.”

 


	9. Chapter 9

1975

 

There had to be something here.

 

George, for all that he’d been blessed with a nearly infinite well of patience, was starting to get desperate. What if he couldn’t find anything to put together what was going on? What if these guys were so good that he would never find even a shred of evidence to lead him to the people tailing him?

 

What if?

 

They were definitely always the worst questions. Even if this time, George was pretty certain of the answer.

 

If he didn’t find something soon, he was inevitably going to get caught somewhere he shouldn’t be. And since that certain incident in 1969 he was fairly confident that his career wasn’t going to stand up to anything else – whatever his supposed future friends had said about him making General.

 

Not in this universe.

 

Even as the thoughts fluttered through his head, George flinched at a noise behind him. He’d been sure the General was out for the day, and that none of his aides had been given access, but nevertheless, the door handle was turning.

 

Seeing nowhere to reasonably hide, George straightened his uniform shirt and braced himself as a face made its way round the door, also bypassing the light switch – as he had.

 

“Just what do you think you’re playing at? Sneaking into the General’s office,” barked George, without the slightest idea who he was yelling at – as quietly as he could manage to yell.

 

The other man, a little taller and leaner than George, seemed momentarily startled, but quickly regained his composure. In other circumstances George would probably have commended him for it.

 

“I was given explicit orders, from the General himself, Captain,” the man protested, refusing to back down.

 

“Orders pertaining to what, may I ask?” pressed George, trying to work out a way to turn this to his advantage, the tone of his voice one that had many a Lieutenant quaking in his boots.

 

“You may not.” His rival finally reached out to flick the light switch, leaving George blinking for a moment and revealing that he too was a Captain, which suggested that his business in the office was legitimate. At least….

 

What if? The old question, back to haunt him again. It was a bad situation, but that move with the light switch was just something George might have done, in Captain Carter’s position. And something about that name was distinctly familiar. George had a hunch that the less time the two of them spent bluffing one another and the more time comparing notes, the better they’d do.

 

Besides, what did he have to lose? There was no way he was getting out of this nicely if Captain Carter really was on legitimate business by order of the General, the guy obviously wasn’t going to fall for any more false bravado.

 

“Captain Carter,” George reached for the light switch once more. “would I be right in assuming that you’re looking for the same thing I am?”

 

“Which is?” Carter obviously wasn’t giving anything away, not when he so clearly had the upper hand now.

 

“Information relating to an intrusion in Cheyenne Mountain in 69.” Nothing wrong with that, George told himself. Wrong to be in the General’s office, but the incident itself wasn’t classified beyond his access – officially nothing even happened.

 

Carter gave himself away. A simple jerk of surprise, a flicker that passed through his eyes before he could revert to his assumed persona.

 

“You are,” grinned George. “Or at least, something relating to that. You being tailed inexplicably? Bugged? Met a little weasel by the name of Rossendale?”

 

The debate warred on the other man’s face, betraying his interest in what George was saying, even if the facts didn’t entirely match up. George had to take a chance on him.

 

“Captain George Hammond,” George held his hand out. “It’s good to know there’s someone else being taunted by the tiger.”

 

“Jacob Carter,” Jacob finally responded, his decision made.

 

“Good to meet you, now if you don’t mind, I’m thinking this might not be the best place to compare notes, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not desperate to go another round with the next person to open that door.”

 

“Absolutely,” agreed Jacob, “I have to get going soon anyway. Care to tag along?”

 

                                                ***********

 

“I didn’t realise where this was all coming from,” commented Jacob, leaning back on his armchair, already almost entirely comfortable in George’s presence as though he’d known him for years. “I figured there was something going on, but blackmail? And this incident in 69? What does that have to do with me?”

 

“Nothing that I can…” began George, turning and trailing off as the front door opened.

 

“Just my kids,” Jacob reassured him, sticking his head out of the living room door to check, and waving.

 

“Hi Dad,” grinned Sam, removing her heavy backpack and placing it carefully at the base of the stairs before wandering into the front room and greeting the two men cheerfully, barely skipping a beat at George’s presence.

 

George, on the other hand, had no such luxury. “It wasn’t you they were following,” he whispered, almost to himself.

 


	10. Chapter 10

1975

 

It was nothing, Daniel told himself. Less than nothing. Irrelevant. Can’t touch me. Doesn’t bother me. I don’t care. Nothing!

 

Daniel sighed, his skinny arms crossing in front of his chest. Who was he kidding??. He wished Jack were was here. He needed someone to talk to, and obviously it wasn’t going to be any of his “you’re not old enough to even associate with,” classmates. Jack was way older than them, but he still wanted to talk to Daniel. He’d even written to him.

 

Daniel was in the middle of his current return letterresponse, which had been going well, but now all he wanted to do was rant about the unfairness of it all, and that sort of thing didn’t come out quite right by post, it was more of an in-person kind of rant. Especially as he hadn’t known Jack for all that long;;, it was strange how much Jack had managed to squeeze himself into Daniel’s life in such a short time really.

 

He wasn’t even thinking about his parents. Or Fen. Daniel smiled, pleased with himself. After all, everyone was always telling him he should move on. If his first thought was Jack, maybe he had.

 

But then that didn’t mean he’d forgotten Fen or his parents, he added to himself, trying to reassure the wave of guilt following on from his revelation without really being certain that he shouldn’t feel guilty. He reached deep into his pocket, withdrawing several slightly crumpled pieces of paper.

 

His parents.

 

There, no one forgotten, they all had letters in progress. He’d been showing his parents how good he was getting at his hieroglyphics, although their letters were definitely hardest to write, knowing he wasn’t going to get a response.

 

He supposed it was possible they wouldn’t mind about on paper ranting, but then he didn’t want them to worry.

 

He looked at Jack’s letter, distracted now. He’d been telling Jack all about his plans next time the cadet visited, but thinking about it, it didn’t seem fair that Jack should do all the travelling. Maybe Daniel should work out how to visit him. Of course, there was no way Martha would let him go on his own, but it would be good to be ready.

 

Just in case.

 

His need to rant forgotten, Daniel headed off to the library, in search of the map section.

 

                                                *********

 

As it turned out, maps that covered the United States of America in enough detail to plot road routes were quite heavy to carry home. Worse than that, when he got them home and opened them out it turned out that only the kitchen table was large enough to give him space to really get a proper look without ending up sitting on some critical waypoint. Still, once dinner was over and everyone had cleared out of the way, Daniel could take the time to thoroughly enjoy his new mission.

 

Firstly, he needed to get across New York State. Well, he shrugged. That wasn’t really all that exciting, he’d seen enough of New York, even if really he hadn’t seen that much. Obviously travelling so far west – he paused to admire the sheer scale of the proposition as it was laid out on the table – he’d need to make use of the interstate, so he’d start with I84 and work from there.

 

He peered at his maps again, quickly picking up I84 in Pennsylvania and deciding on the spot that he liked the sound of that much better than heading south into New Jersey right away. Pennsylvania it was, that way he could use the I81 to get to the I80, and go through Wilkes-Barre, which really just sounded like an intriguing name. He made a mental note to look it up, moving on down the lines on the map excitedly, almost believing that his finger was a car and he really was shooting off to see Jack.

 

Daniel’s finger started to make little brmmingbrmmingbrumming noises as he traced his way across the map on the I80 and into Ohio – just below Cleveland, he noted, deciding that he might need his journal to make a note of all these places to look up. He’d never heard of any of them he didn’t think, although he thought Cleveland might sound vaguely familiar, and if he was going to travel this far through all these places he obviously needed to check them out. He raced upstairs, quickly retrieving his journal from under his bed and a fistful of pens – just in case, he didn’t want to be interrupted again.

 

OK, so Wilkes-Barre. Cleveland. He scribbled.

 

Back to the map.

 

“Right, take care to avoid the I76/I71 connection, that shoots off later, no good at all,” he muttered to himself, noting their departure further across the map. “Hmm, so onwards into Indiana still on the I80, right on the north edge of the state. Through Hammond on the west side, and South Bend,” he brmmedbrmmedbrummed his finger again, briefly making a quiet screeching noise as he noted an alternative route. “Ah,” he paused.

 

“But I could take the I69 through Fort Wayne and catch the I70 in Indianapolis.” His finger, removed from the map, came up to his mouth as he tried to work out this quandary. How to choose? He shrugged, reaching for his journal again. He needed to do some more investigation on these places he was going through. Got to get the most out of a proper adventure.

 

Fen would be so proud.

 

And Jack.

 

Jack! He glanced at his watch. It was getting quite late, and whilst no one had shouted for him yet, he knew he needed to go to bed soon and he wanted to do some writing to Jack first. Gathering his things off the kitchen table as quickly and quietly as possible, he scampered off to his room, desperate to look up all these new places he’d found and write to Jack all about his road trip.

 

                                                            *********

 

It seemed to take forever for the dishes to be cleared and everyone to leave the kitchen the next evening. Daniel had barely listened through his classes, and was guiltily aware that if anyone asked him anything about what he’d done at school today he wouldn’t be able to give them a convincing answer. He’d spent the day travelling west, in spirit if not in body, and it was only the fact that he did so consistently well in class that had spared him the teacher’s wrath.

 

On the plus side, he realised, he didn’t annoy any of the older kids by being off daydreaming. He chuckled to himself, it was weird how things worked.

 

“What are you laughing at?” the voice from the doorway startled Daniel, making him drop one of his pens with a clatter and causing a flush to rise from his toes right through to his scalp.

 

“Nothing,” he replied, “just something funny that happened at school.” Daniel knew the main thing was to make it clear he wasn’t laughing at Paul. They weren’t friends, or really brothers despite what the foster people seemed to think, so he wasn’t allowed to laugh at Paul.

 

“Sure, school’s funny,” the older boy sneered, nonetheless moving on as he noticed Daniel’s array of maps.

 

Daniel watched him warily, knowing that Paul didn’t approve of anything to do with school or books other than sports. He didn’t understand Daniel not being interested in sports either, and somehow Daniel didn’t think he’d appreciate maps at all.

 

Then, to his surprise, Paul started to laugh.

 

Vastly relieved, Daniel joined in, laughing more with relief than anything, but pleasantly surprised to find that he and Paul were capable of sharing anything. Even if he didn’t actually know what the joke was.

 

Then, abruptly, Paul stopped. “I know what you’re doing,” he stated.

 

“OK.” Daniel found himself blushing again. Well, it was a silly idea, and probably quite childish, but he reminded himself, he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Nothing to be ashamed of.

 

“Jack doesn’t want a little pipsqueak like you turning up on his doorstep you know,” sneered Paul.

 

“I wasn’t going to…”

 

“Oh yeah? What’s all this for then?” Paul gestured at the maps, callously sweeping several off the table.

 

“It’s just a game,” whispered Daniel. “I’d warn Jack before I just showed up, I know you can’t just turn up on people’s doorsteps.”

 

Paul laughed again, but this time it was obvious there was nothing friendly in that laugh. “Baby! Jack’s Harry’s friend, not yours. It’s amazing he’s put up with all your whining for as long as he has, to be honest, but going to visit? I don’t think so! They’ve got their own lives there, and there’s no way you could be a part of it.”

 

Swallowing a huge lump in his throat, Daniel tried to hold his ground. “Jack is my friend, he went round New York with me, and he’s written me letters.”

 

“A few hours,” scoffed Paul. “He’s just helping Harry out, keep you off Harry’s back with all that hero worship stuff. Jack’s Harry’s friend, why would he have any interest in you? You should stick with being grateful we’re putting up with you.”

 

Sweeping the remainder of the maps off the table, Paul turned and stomped out of the kitchen, leaving Daniel devastated. Really? Jack didn’t care about him at all? But…

 

Daniel sighed.

 

Trudging despondently back to his room, the maps neatly folded so that he could return them to the library in the morning, Daniel quietly closed the door behind him and reached into his pocket for his current letter to Jack.

 

He read it through. All his excited comments about his fantasy route to go and visit Jack and what he’d been looking up on the way, then he silently crumpled it up and threw it in the waste paper bin and flopped face down on his bed.

 

Right now, he really wanted Fen.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

1975

 

Jack sighed, a book open on his knees and a great stack of similarly weighty tomes scattered about the floor around him. His head was already throbbing, and just for a moment he could feel himself struggling to believe that he was ever going to get this finished properly.

 

Just for a moment. Jack didn’t want to wallow for too long, this was too important.

 

Exams, coursework, it seemed to be unending.

 

“Got to focus, Jack,” he reminded himself, the encouraging words tumbling from his mouth easily from experience. “You’re going to do a good job here, and you’re going to do it quickly enough to see Sara. Simple. Now where did I put…”

 

His head back in the zone, Jack began rummaging through the stack of books, flicking through pages as he searched for a reference, oblivious to his surroundings once more, his mind putting aside his worries in order to allow him to work.

 

It didn’t last.

 

Although he made excellent progress, at least ensuring that he wasn’t really behind schedule, Jack was nowhere near picking up enough with his work to guarantee time to head off anywhere with Sara during the week, and certainly not in the comfortable, plenty of time to check things through, sort of place he’d been hoping for when he came across his last letter from Daniel.

 

Initially, he just read it through, smiling to himself at the little boy’s comments on what he’d been doing in New York and how things were going. Despite his situation, Daniel seemed tremendously positive about everything and Jack had to admit that it was contagious, a little dose of optimism just when he needed it.

 

Jack frowned. It’d been a while though.

 

He was pretty confident that the letter he was holding was the last he’d received, he remembered getting it quite clearly, but the postmark told him that it was over a month old. That was really slow for Daniel. Especially since Jack was positive he’d written back straightaway.

 

Had Daniel got bored of writing? Kids were prone to swings in interests all the time, Jack knew, but Daniel really didn’t seem likely to just drop everything and fail to write.

 

Was everything OK?

 

Quietly reminding himself that being a pen pal hardly gave him the right to worry, Jack swallowed down the lump in his throat, and began a new letter. Maybe Daniel really had just forgotten. He’d finally made a good friend his own age and he didn’t have quite as much time to himself as he used to.

 

It was a nice fantasy. The sort that if he could truly embrace Daniel’s boundless optimism he might well have had for real, but Jack could see other possibilities too. Ones he didn’t like.

 

Pushing aside the remaining work for later, even if it meant staying up all night or postponing his date, Jack began to write.

 

                                                            ********

 

“Jack! Jack!” Jack opened half an eye to the not entirely pleasant sight of Harry peering at him from just a few inches away. “You’re drooling, wake up or Major Walker is going to notice.”

 

Jack blinked back the sleep, hardly able to believe he’d fallen asleep in a lecture. Definitely not something he could afford to make a habit of. Stretching himself out, Jack groaned inwardly, then took hold of his pen, staring attentively at the lecturer in an attempt to imply that nothing had ever happened. He glanced back at Harry, who was still staring at him.

 

“What?”

 

“What were you doing last night, Jack? I know the workload is high, but even a dumbass like you can usually manage to keep up better than that.”

 

Ignoring the jibe, Jack frowned, remembering just why he’d had so little sleep. “You heard anything from home lately, Harry?”

 

“Sure, same old,” shrugged Harry, slightly puzzled. “Dad’s been on about taking Paul on some outward bound thing, Mom’s been worrying I’m not eating enough – the usual.”

 

“Anything about Daniel?”

 

Harry rolled his eyes, “That little…” he began, pausing before the words made their way out of his mouth. “No one mentioned him on the phone, I guess he’s fine, Jack.”

 

He’s fine. Jack heard the words, but somehow his friend’s reassurance wasn’t the comfort he’d been hoping for. Why was there no letter?

 

                                                ***********

 

A week later, although he’d managed to plough his way through some of his small mountain of work, worry was really starting to gnaw at Jack. He couldn’t put his finger on it, struggling even to come up with a good enough reason to call beyond a hunch. Harry had mentioned several times that his Father didn’t approve of his younger children making unnecessary use of the phone, so Jack was determined not to get Daniel into trouble, but waiting for a reply was really starting to get to him. Had Daniel really moved on on a whim? Was there a letter that was just lost? Was Jack simply imagining that it’d been a long time? Every time he went to pick up the phone, Jack convinced himself that it was nothing. Hank wouldn’t be pleased if he broke one of his rules either, Jack was confident, even from his limited exposure, that Hank was a man who was very clear about his rules.

 

Well he was military. Certainly, rules and the military was something Jack could appreciate.

 

Still, the missing letter niggled, even as his fingers refused to dial his young friend.

 

It was Charlie who broke the deadlock. Sauntering in with a smug grin on his face that suggested he’d either got himself laid or won a round of poker, Charlie instantly recognised there was a problem.

 

“Gee, Jack, what have you been doing to yourself? Tell me it at least involved your latest night out with the lovely Sara?”

 

Jack didn’t need to respond to assure Charlie that it didn’t, before he’d even opened his mouth his friend was sat down on the crumpled, unmade bed, his face full of concern. “What is it, Jack? I’ve never seen you get in this state over just anything. What’s going on? Something at home?”

 

Jack glanced at the door, wary that Harry might wander in at any time. Somehow it was clear Harry wasn’t happy that Jack would worry about Daniel, either due to jealousy or because it implied something negative about Harry’s family, Jack wasn’t sure. “It’s Daniel,” he told Charlie.

 

“Harry’s kid brother?”

 

“That’s the one. Cute kid, kinda lonely, we got on pretty well when I went over to New York with Harry back in February and he’s been writing to me.”

 

“OK, so where’s the problem?”

 

“He’s stopped,” said Jack flatly. “And before you say it, yes it’s crossed my mind that he’s just stopped because he’s a kid and they’re a bit unpredictable that way.”

 

“Still,” mused Charlie, “why not just call if you’re worried. Surely the family’d appreciate you taking an interest?”

 

“Given Harry’s response, I’m not so sure. There was something funny going on there, Charlie, and I don’t want to get Daniel into trouble by raising any flags.”

 

“Jesus, Jack, you’re seeing conspiracies all over the place. You really haven’t been getting enough sleep. He’s a kid, how much trouble can he possibly get into?”

 

“Enough,” sighed Jack.

 

Charlie narrowed his eyes, betraying his scepticism, but he said nothing more of it. Charlie had known Jack long enough to trust his judgement. “Right then, buddy. You are going to get on with that ridiculous pile of past deadline work due, ideally in time to go out with the lovely Sara and tell me how wonderful she was before I die of old age. Meanwhile, I am going to look into this whole thing with young Daniel on your behalf.”

 

Jack raised a finger, silently pulling Charlie back. “But..”

 

“Ah, no buts Jack. You need to get this work done, and you need to stop worrying about the kid. And incidentally, I’m good at this sort of thing, I’ll be very discreet. In fact, I may have the perfect cover in mind already. Lives over in the Big Apple, fond of unexpected visitors…”

 

“Charlie,” Jack added a note of warning.

 

“Completely discreet, no one will notice,” repeated Charlie, exiting quickly. “It’s all in hand,” he called back through the closing door.

 

Strangely, it helped.

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

1975

 

Harry sighed heavily, glancing at his companion as he dug through his pockets for the keys to his parents’ house. “Run it by me again, Charlie. Why are you here, exactly?”

 

“What can I say,” grinned Charlie, his smile spreading slightly cheekily. “It’s a tale of exciting but ultimately doomed romance, in which a lucky young lady was destined to have yours truly staying over with her over the long weekend, yet was suddenly called away on urgent family business too late for her Romeo to cancel his tickets.”

 

“Right.” Harry rolled his eyes. “And there isn’t someone else in the area you could have stayed with? I am a little busy for babysitting this weekend, you know.”

 

“I just need a place to lay my head, pal,” grinned Charlie, ignoring Harry’s poor attitude. “The rest I can work out for myself.”

 

“No bringing girls back here either,” added Harry under his breath as the door finally opened of its own accord to reveal his Mother.

 

“Ah! Mom!” Harry lightly hugged her, then pushed into the house. “This is Charlie, his plans were changed at the last minute so he wanted to take a little floor space.”

 

“Oh lovely, Harry, you’ve brought another friend to stay!” Martha sounded positively ecstatic from what Charlie could tell. “Charlie, was it?” she asked, addressing both of them, although it was apparent that Harry had already headed off in search of his Father, only his bag remaining in the entrance hall.

 

“It is Charlie, Ma’am,” he nodded, offering her his hand. “I’m very grateful for you putting me up like this.”

 

“You’re welcome, Charlie. I love meeting friends of Harry’s from the academy anyway, he talks so little about what he gets up to, sometimes it’s the only way to find out what’s going on,” she smiled. “Do you know Jack as well, Charlie? How is he doing?”

 

“I do,” Charlie nodded, “I’m afraid he’s a little snowed under with work for another visit though, or I think he’d have been fighting with me for my bus tickets.”

 

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you anyway, Charlie.” Martha smiled warmly at him again, making Charlie wonder where Harry got all the attitude from. He hadn’t had time to talk much to Jack before he left, and with all his friend’s worries about Daniel he’d been expecting the whole family to be a bit. Well. Off.

 

Not that Harry wasn’t a good buddy, but he was still a bit off sometimes. Definitely something going on there.

 

Charlie shook his head, bringing his thoughts back to the present situation. For the moment it wasn’t really Harry that he was interested in – that was a mystery for later. Besides, Harry’s Mom had managed to scurry into the kitchen and return with a plate of cookies in the time he’d been daydreaming. He really needed to pay more attention.

 

“Thanks, ma’am,” Charlie nodded, taking one of the enticing cookies. “One thing I promised Jack when I told him I was visiting you all – how’s young Daniel doing?”

 

Momentarily, Martha’s face fell, then the smile was back in place. “Oh, he’s been keeping to himself like usual, head in his books, he’s been fine though. I guess he made quite an impression on Jack then?”

 

“Definitely,” agreed Charlie, glancing round their surroundings, wondering what could possibly have changed with Daniel since Jack had been here.

 

“Do you want me to fetch him?” asked Martha. “I’m sure he’d be very keen to meet a friend of Jack’s. He talked about him all the time.”

 

Talked. It could just have been a slip of the tongue, but somehow Charlie didn’t think so. Jack was right, there was definitely something up. Still, time to get to the bottom of things, he nodded back at Martha, trying not to spit cookie crumbs all over her as he replied as casually as possible.

 

“That’d be great if he’s around.”

 

Somehow, Daniel managed to be not quite what Charlie was expecting, although for the life of him he couldn’t work out why. Given Jack’s detailed descriptions, and what he’d been able to put together over something being wrong, Charlie should have fully expected the arrival of a quiet but politely suspicious, scrawny, blond genius carrying a book that looked as though it’d topple him over, but somehow the details had never crossed his mind.

 

Maybe his mind was too hung up on Jack’s tales of their day out, and snippets of Daniel’s ever optimistic letters.

 

Daniel hadn’t sounded like the sort of person to be suspicious of anyone, that was just wrong. Shy, certainly, but not suspicious.

 

“Hi there, you must be Daniel.” Charlie beamed his best grin and held out his hand to the youngster, hoping for some sort of response.

 

“Yes,” replied Daniel, only briefly meeting Charlie’s eyes or touching his proffered hand. “I’m Harry’s foster brother,” he added.

 

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” grinned Charlie, trying not to be put off. “I think we have a mutual friend.”

 

Daniel looked puzzled, his gaze briefly straying to Charlie’s face again, this time with a small wrinkle between his eyebrows as though what Charlie was saying couldn’t possibly make any sense.

 

“Jack?” Charlie prompted, knowing that Daniel couldn’t possibly have forgotten. “Tall guy, likes to tell really bad jokes?”

 

“Oh yeah,” muttered Daniel. “Jack.”

 

“He’s been dying to hear from you, you know,” added Charlie, starting to flounder a bit as Daniel continued to be unexpectedly monosyllabic.

 

Daniel just sighed. “You can stop pretending, you know. It’s fine just to go and play with the others. I have a book to read.”

 

Charlie frowned, trying to work his head round what might be going on. Somehow it didn’t seem likely that Jack had exaggerated their encounter the first time. “OK, kid. I’ll tell you what, I’ll just sit quiet over here.”

 

Daniel looked up at him, finally meeting Charlie’s eyes for more than a moment.

 

“While you read,” the young man elaborated.

 

Daniel nodded, clambering onto the sofa and settling the huge tome onto his knees, essentially retreating from Charlie.

 

For several minutes, Charlie sat and watched the boy, his mind rolling over and over what could possibly have happened to make Daniel mistrust Jack so much, and in fact anyone associated with Jack, with so little contact. He knew full well that Jack had been incredibly careful with the letters he’d written, not to say anything that could be misinterpreted by a kid who clearly spent far too much time on his own. Reading.

 

Or thinking.

 

Sometimes, Charlie surmised, thinking was bad. Especially when you were particularly young and inexperienced and didn’t have anyone to talk worries over with.

 

Especially when someone had, perhaps, talked you into not trusting one of the few friends you had.

 

Charlie peered over at the book, just making out a section of the title, mentioning the city of Babylon.

 

“There was a Daniel there, right?”

 

Daniel looked up, the look on his face revealing his puzzlement, but for now absent of the suspicion.

 

“In Babylon – hey, I went to Sunday School,” grinned Charlie, determined to get the kid talking. The way things were looking, he’d probably barely spoken to anyone since Jack left – barring whoever’d upset him anyway. “That Daniel’s pretty famous you know,” added Charlie, searching his memory, “He could tell the meaning of dreams. Plus there was that whole thing with the lions that didn’t eat him.”

 

Daniel raised an eyebrow, and Charlie was almost certain he spotted a small smirk. “There was a Daniel, but I’m reading about the creation of laws there.”

 

Charlie nearly did a dance. Practically a conversation. The creation of laws?” he prodded.

 

“Yes, in around 1790 BC by King Hummurabi. Gustave Jeqier found the code of Hummurabi in 1901 in Susa, which used to be in Mesopotamia, but now it’s in Iraq,” suspicious Daniel seemed completely transformed by the opportunity to explain something to an interested audience, confirming once again Charlie’s own suspicions about Daniel’s lack of company.

 

“Oh,” nodded Charlie, as seriously as he could manage, trying to maintain his interested audience persona before the spell was broken and Daniel remembered that they weren’t speaking to one another. “What made you start reading about all that?”

 

“I like that sort of thing,” pouted Daniel.

 

“Well, obviously, but how do you choose where to start with things like that? Me, I’d say this stuff is pretty interesting, but it’s not something I’m ever likely to find myself reading by accident.”

 

“Well, you don’t have as much time, being at the academy,” observed Daniel generously.

 

“That’s true,” agreed Charlie, “and that’s exactly why Jack didn’t come to see you today, but he was worried about you, you know.”

 

The suspicion crept back into Daniel’s face, and for a moment Charlie thought he’d rushed things too much. After all, a few minutes conversation was hardly comparable to the weeks of silence, and Daniel had hardly had opportunity to learn whether to trust Charlie himself or not at all. On the other hand, Charlie knew squat about ancient Babylonian kings so there probably wasn’t room for a whole lot of bluffing.

 

Fortunately, his usual optimistic nature apparently winning the battle, Daniel responded, almost whispering, as though he was saying something he shouldn’t. “Are you really sure?”

 

“Really sure about what?” Charlie too lowered his voice.

 

“That Jack wanted to hear about me?”

 

“Of c….” Charlie began, raising his voice, scarcely able to get enough feeling into the statement.

 

“..Charlie,” interrupted Harry, apparently taking the most inopportune moment possible to decide to acknowledge Charlie’s existence, rather than complain about it. “What are you doing?”

 

“Me and Daniel here are just having a little chat about Babylon,” Charlie turned and winked at Daniel, gratified to note the slight giggle the boy gave when he did so.

 

“Come on, my Dad’s offered to take us both out shooting.”

 

“That’s fine,” grinned Charlie, enough of that at the academy anyway. “Me and Daniel are just going to hang out here a bit longer. Thanks anyway, though.”

 

“What is it with you and Jack, are you aspiring to be in kindergarten again or something?” grunted Harry. “You should come, it’s quite an opportunity to get to know the right people,” he added.

 

“What? You’re jealous?” teased Charlie. “I’m not looking for that sort of trip Harry, thanks. I’m good just here.”

 

“Suit yourself,” said Harry, turning on his heel and leaving, slightly more red in the face than when he’d appeared. Charlie could hear him talking to his Father quietly in the background as they made their way out of the front door.

 

“I think you made him mad,” said Daniel, glancing out of the window as the car drew away.

 

Charlie grinned. “I think Harry’s always a bit mad, don’t worry.”

 

“Thanks,” smiled Daniel, turning to look down at his book again, before quietly whispering to Charlie. “You know I thought I’d look at this book because Gustave Jeqier, the man who found the code of Hummurabi, was actually an Egyptologist who was interested in the predynastic era like my Mom and Dad.” Daniel shrugged. “I was thinking he might have known them.”

 

Charlie smiled. “Now there’s a good reason to read around a subject,” he agreed.

 

“I was wrong,” added Daniel sadly, with a touch of embarrassment. “He died in 1946.”

 

Charlie shrugged. “But it was still interesting.”

 

                                                ***********

 

Although the house was quiet, and he’d hardly had opportunity for the sort of socialising he might normally have done at this sort of hour, Charlie found himself lying in bed awake, thinking over and over his conversation with Daniel. Once he’d got him warmed up, Charlie had found the boy to be good company, perhaps a little strange for a kid, but interesting to talk to and very sweet natured. It seemed just wrong for the kid to have fallen out with Jack for no reason, there had to be something else going on that he was missing. 

 

Wishing for the umpteenth time that Jack was here so that they could bat ideas about and, to be honest, so that Jack could get the truth out of the kid, Charlie simply ran his mind over the facts, certain that there was more to the story than some random whim of Daniel’s. There had to be something, or someone. There had to be a reason, even if, as Harry was fond of saying, sometimes you just had to suck up the crap.

 

Just at the point of dozing off with a looping image of Harry’s worst one liners, Charlie heard voices on the stairs.

 

“… got to be more careful Harry, you’re making those friends of yours suspicious.”

 

“Jack and Charlie? They wouldn’t know suspicious if it bit them, they just like kids, that’s all.”

 

“Maybe, but that’s not going to be all if you don’t stop behaving like a jealous kid yourself. He’s your foster brother, Harry, you’re supposed to have an interest yourself.”

 

“Oh please, as if anyone would expect me to take an interest in a snivelling kid. There’s nothing suspicious about that.”

 

“There will be if you don’t get your act together…”

 

As the door closed and the voices faded into the indistinguishable background, Charlie sighed. That was definitely a bit more than just some random whim.

 


	13. Chapter 13

1975

 

Just one glance at the carefully written envelope was enough to release a relieved breath from Jack that he felt as though he’d been holding for weeks. Granted, aside from an unusual unease in himself that Jack had yet to get to the bottom of, Charlie had returned from New York with nothing but good news about Daniel, but Jack still hadn’t been able to settle with the idea until this moment. The delivery of a letter from Daniel himself.

 

Retreating from the crowded porter’s lodge, with the letter tightly clutched in his hand, Jack headed back to his room, determined to read Daniel’s letter somewhere quiet.

 

Particularly if it turned out to say something he didn’t want to hear. With everything that he’d heard from Charlie in the past week or so, Jack was a little afraid of reacting more than he should to any explanation the boy might provide.

 

And he was Daniel, so if there was an explanation, it was bound to be detailed. Not for the first time, Jack wondered how exactly this kid, with nothing more than a couple of days contact, had got under his skin so much. But then maybe that really didn’t matter anymore, it wasn’t like Jack was prepared to let him go, so why seemed like rather a superfluous question. Jack didn’t like to dwell on unnecessary details.

 

Back in his room, the door closed behind him, Jack finally opened the letter, out dropped several sheets of carefully handwritten paper, numbered so that Jack could easily follow their ordering.

 

_Dear Jack,_

_I’m sorry I haven’t written for so long. I met your friend Charlie last week (who between you and me seems a bit confused about what happened in Babylon), and he told me that you’d been worrying about me because I hadn’t written for ages, so I’m really sorry. I didn’t think about you worrying at all, I just believed.... well, I suppose I’m a bit gullible, Jack. I believed what I’d been told – that I was bothering you. Again, I’m really sorry. Charlie said that the best way to make it better is to explain to you exactly what happened, because you might need some reassurance too, so I’ll do my best._

_I feel a bit silly though. Now that Charlie explained that Paul didn’t know anything, I feel stupid for believing him at all, but when he said it he sounded so sure._

Jack took a deep breath, smiling a little at Daniel’s typical under-estimation of what he was worth, but also preparing himself for what was about to come. No matter what Harry’s brother had said to Daniel, it wouldn’t do for Jack to just go barging in unprepared. For a start it’d make him distinctly unwelcome at the Maybourne’s, and who knows how much clout Harry’s Dad had. No, this was a case for Jack to take things slowly, to take action in a measured and calculated way.

 

Nonetheless, Jack told himself, there would be action. When the time was right. He turned back to the letter.

 

_I was just working out some routes to come and visit you. It was so much fun! I know I can’t drive yet, but one day I’ll be able to, and I can see how to get all the way across the country to you. There were lots of exciting places on the way too, but I won’t get into that here – I’ve included my original letter about that, the one I never quite sent, because I’d already written quite a lot about that and it was fun then but I don’t feel like going back to it now. But when I was planning my route, I had to spread out all the maps in the kitchen, and Paul caught me and worked out what I was doing._

_You know I think Paul might have some sort of problem at school? He’s always very negative about books and writing. Although he’s very good at sports, Hank is always telling us how good Paul is at sports too, he’s very proud of him, so maybe the books and writing aren’t so important. Anyway, Paul told me that we weren’t really friends at all, and when I was on my own it was very easy to believe, so I’m sorry for doubting you Jack – I know it’s important to be able to believe in things all on your own really. Don’t be too mad at Paul, he doesn’t understand why that was such a big deal at all, after all, most of the time all I do is write to you._

Not too mad? No, of course not – Jack could feel his teeth grinding together, but so far he’d succeeded in not punching anything at least. He’d seen Paul, of course, whilst he’d been at Harry’s. Noted the tall, athletic teenager who was probably popular at school and had all the support he could ever want from his father. Why was it so common for people like that to pick on the underdog? Grrr.... the urge to punch something was growing.

 

Fortunately, Charlie chose that moment to knock on his door.

 

“Saw you got a letter, is it...” Charlie raised his eyebrows, his face saying more than saying Daniel’s name would have.

 

“Yeah.” In his present state of mind, Jack wasn’t sure he should really elaborate.

 

“Good news?” asked Charlie, all innocence, Jack suspected in an effort to diffuse his anger.

 

“News,” replied Jack, his teeth still gritted against his feelings about a certain foster brother of his friend.

 

“Right, very convincing, Jack. Might want to practice that a little more if you want to stay with them again,” deadpanned Charlie, moving fully into Jack’s room and closing the door behind him. “There’s something else going on here, Jack, I know it. We’ve got to keep our heads long enough to find out what it is – before that sweet little kid gets any more trouble on his plate.”

 

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “You saw something else.”

 

“Yes and no.” Charlie shrugged. “There was a feeling in the air, but more than that, I heard Old Hank giving Harry grief about me and you getting suspicious. Now whilst Harry-boy doesn’t believe that you and I have the nous to suspect anything, I’m thinking that my spider sense is already tingling.”

 

“You’re right, that is suspicious,” agreed Jack, slightly surprised. “I was thinking that was all in my head.”

 

“What was all in your head?” A third, currently unwelcome, voice in the form of Harry Maybourne managed to open the door – without knocking – and catch at least some of their conversation without either of them spotting him, making Jack wish he’d taken a few special ops classes already.

 

“Don’t say your brain, Jack,” grinned Charlie, diverting Harry’s attention quickly, “he’ll never believe you.”

 

“Weird post-pint conversation with some girl,” shrugged Jack.

 

“Inventive,” nodded Harry, “I would’ve thought that was more Charlie’s area of expertise.”

 

“I come and go,” grinned Jack, well aware of what he could be implying. “How was your weekend, Harry? Any female interest your way?”

 

“No more than I could handle, Jack, you don’t need to worry about me.”

 


	14. Chapter 14

1975

Daniel slowly pulled another book from the small pile of his own books. The rest had had to go back to the library, but he wanted to savour every moment of this. Sure, he had to continue living with the Maybournes, but in the last few days Hank’s sudden transfer and their whirlwind house move had had a profoundly positive effect on Daniel’s life.

They were in Colorado Springs!

Naturally, the others didn’t seem to be quite so pleased. Daniel had been trying hard to keep his excitement confined to his room, in fact, after a couple of encounters with Paul, and then Elisha, grumbling about the unusually sudden move, he’d been trying very hard to stay out of everyone’s way altogether. He supposed, from their perspective, they were losing a lot of friends and he should be sympathetic – even sorry for them – but they were used to moving too, and clearly good at all the things that make people popular quickly, so he was sure they’d be fine. Maybe Colorado Springs’ high school had an even better football team for Paul to play on? Maybe the middle school had even more kids to go round admiring Elisha? He considered pointing this out to them, then as the clearly angry footsteps of Paul were heard on the stairs and then going past his new room, Daniel wisely decided to keep quiet.

Of course, it wasn’t helping that this house didn’t have a room for Harry. In the others’ eyes, it seemed that Daniel had stolen Harry’s room. Daniel looked round the small space he was going to call his own – for now – and decided that he wasn’t going to worry about it.

He had more important things to think about. Like telling Jack and Charlie where he was.

His heart racing with excitement, as he debated his strategy, Daniel put down his last book and peered out of his door. Was Hank around? Would he be able to use the phone without getting into trouble? Daniel decided against it, he didn’t need the entire family to be angry with him. Instead, he dug through his pockets for all the change he could find and quietly slipped out of the door.

Surely there’d be a payphone around here somewhere.

                                                ****************

Jack and Charlie were in their room, studiously ignoring their work. They weren’t really talking, other than the occasional jibe to attempt to motivate themselves, and in fact Jack was currently on a completely different planet to Charlie, daydreaming about his last date with Sara and when he might have chance to meet up with her again.

So the summons for a phone call was not entirely welcome.

“Hello?” Jack grunted.

“Jack? It’s Daniel. Are you OK?”

“Daniel! Sorry, mind elsewhere. Why are you calling? You’re not in trouble are you?” Not that Jack really had grounds to think Daniel was in trouble as such, but the phone call was suggestive and, well, the kid seemed to be attracting something suspicious.

“No Jack. Why would I be?” The young voice sounded slightly offended.

“Sorry Danny, but well you’re phoning me.”

“Oh. Oh! Yes, I’m phoning you. Do you want to guess why?”

Jack thought for a moment, trying to get in a gear where he might catch the same wavelength and the kid. He got nothing. “Ummm. Telesales.”

Daniel chuckled. “Much better than that.”

Ah, good news. Jack smiled, “I can’t get it, what is it?”

“I’ve moved here!”

“I can’t see ‘here’, Daniel.”

“I mean Colorado Springs! Isn’t that brilliant?”

Jack was momentarily speechless, then a grin spread across his face. “That’s great, Danny. Whereabouts? Should I be looking for housewarming gifts and coming over?”

Daniel paused for a minute, then admitted. “Well I’m not sure exactly where, but as soon as I can check out the local area, I’ll let you know....”

The phone started to put in beeping noises, clueing Jack in to the payphone at the other end.

“Uh, I’ve got to go Jack, I’ll see you soon!” And the phone went dead.

Jack stood for a moment staring at the receiver, then carefully hung it up. Trying not to think too hard about Daniel not actually knowing the address of his house but venturing out to a phonebooth, presumably solo. Nope, definitely not dwelling on that, he told himself. Daniel was quite capable of remembering where he left his house. Phonebooths are on every corner. Nonetheless, Jack carefully checked his watch and made a note of the time, just in case the need to call in a few favours and discover the location of a certain incoming phone call might arise.

As he looked up, a familiar figure nearly barged into him. “Hey Harry,” mumbled Jack, absently.

“Jack.”

Jack glanced up again, frowning. “Weren’t you at some exam today? Way over on the other side of campus?”

“I...” began Harry.

“Forgot to go?”

Harry raised an eyebrow condescendingly. “Hardly Jack, finished early.” He fished a pen from his pocket and waved it at Jack.

Jack shrugged, not pressing the issue. “Heard your family have moved over to join you here?”

“You did? Who told you that?” Harry seemed startled, more so than about the exam.

“Little bird,” said Jack. “Your Dad get transferred?”

“You know I can’t discuss the details, Jack.”

What? Jack rolled his eyes inwardly, Harry was so full of it. “Sure, Harry.” And he sauntered away, whistling.

And thinking.

Because if his watch was working right, there was no way Harry could have finished an exam and made it over here to... what? Answer Jack’s phone call?

He needed to talk to Charlie.


	15. Chapter 15

1975

“Jacob.”

“George.”

The two men nodded to each other as George Hammond opened his door to allow his new friend to enter.

“I take it we have news?” George glanced at the papers Jacob was withdrawing from his pocket.

“I don’t know yet, but I’ve been thinking. We might not know who these guys were that you met, but if you’re starting to suspect that at least some of them were military, then why not start by looking here?”

“They were time travellers, Jacob, even if they were air force...”

“Start with the easiest, then move on,” suggested Jacob, “so sense in making things difficult.”

“Fair point, so what do you have there?”

“Enlistment photographs of every officer, cadet, everything assigned to work in Colorado Springs.”

“How on earth did you get...”

“Best not to ask, George. Let’s just say that my daughter is not the only one who knows her way around the latest technology.”

“No kidding. This is going to take a while though, Jacob, we’re not even expecting them to be the same age.”

“True, true. And I didn’t even see them. But since Sam’s 11, and we know one of them was her age, I’d say we’re just looking for the older two from what you describe. So you look for the leader, I’ll try to find the distinctive black guy.”

“It’s not like I can draw a sketch for you,” pointed out Hammond.

“That’s OK, they’ve got vital statistics on the enrolment forms, I figure I’ll show you any black guys who are imposing and at least 8ft tall.”

“Very funny.”

“Not really,” shrugged Jacob. “It’s this or leaving Sam to the wolves – whatever it is they want with her.”

“I’ll put the kettle on then,” agreed Hammond. “This could be a long night.”

                                                            ************

“Right, so what was this plan again, Charlie?”

“Simple, Jack. You think there’s something up with Harry-boy, I’m inclined to agree with you. We work out if he’s actually following you by heading out somewhere nonsensical and seeing if he’s behind us.”

“And your interpretation of nonsensical is the General’s Office?

“It was that or a brothel, but there are always excuses for that,” Charlie grinned.

“There are excuses for this too!”

“Not in the middle of the night, makes no sense at all!”

“I would have to agree,” grumbled Jack, needlessly casting a glance behind them. “What if someone asks why we’re there?”

Charlie chuckled, “You underestimate me, Cadet O’Neill.” With a great flourish, Charlie produced a signed letter, summoning both Jack and Charlie to the General’s office at precisely 11.30pm.”

“That’s crazy, no one’s going to buy that!”

“These people do not like to question orders, trust me Jack, it’ll be fine.”

Certain that a better plan was lurking at the back of his mind, Jack straightened up and followed Charlie as they walked decisively to their destination. Neither of them spoke, nor did they look back, they couldn’t afford to give this away if they wanted to figure out what their so called friend was up to.

It was a terrible plan. What if the General was working late?

Thankfully, Charlie had no intention of going right up to the General’s office, once he’d got them admitted to the building he showed Jack a small, quiet space where they could keep an eye on the entrance without being noticed.

“How did you know about...?”

Charlie grinned. “Remember that prank with the water pistols...”

“Ahh,” Jack nodded, returning his attention to the entrance.

They weren’t disappointed.

                                                ***********

“Jacob!” whispered Hammond, almost reluctant to disturb his friend’s slumber, feeling his own fatigue competing with his sense of accomplishment. “Jacob! I’ve found one, you were right!”

Jacob blinked owlishly for a moment, then focused. “You did? I knew it! They were foreign at all!”

“Jack O’Neill, currently a cadet in the ASAF right under our noses.”

“Oh thank god,” sighed Jacob. “A break at last.”

“Remember, Jacob, he might not know any more than Samantha does.”

“I’ll take anything at the moment. We’ve got to find him, see what he knows, if he’s seen anything.”

“I’ll take care of that, Jacob,” nodded Hammond, “I remember a bit of what this fellow’s older self was like, he was a good man. I’ll go talk to him tomorrow.”

                                                ****************

Jack couldn’t help but glance behind him as he waited for the door to open on Daniel’s new home. He had to admit it, the events of the other night had shaken him, and whilst he and Charlie had decided not to confront Harry until they knew more about what was going on, it was difficult not to be disturbed by events. Harry had been his friend.

And Daniel’s brother.

Somehow that didn’t seem like a coincidence.

“Jack! Come in! Come see my room? Isn’t it nice here?”

Jack smiled, pleased to see the kid so happy. Just because he was close to Jack and Charlie – presumably nothing had really improved at home. It was amazing what a little hope could do for someone.

“Hi Daniel. I take it you’re pleased with the move.”

“Well, yeah. It won’t take me days to get to where you live even if I walk!” he pronounced. “I could visit and everything!” The boy looked up at Jack’s face. “You don’t look pleased though. Do you not want me to visit?”

“Of course I do, I’m just worried about some stuff.”

“What?” whispered Daniel, instantly all ears. “Are you OK, Jack?”

Jack glanced around. “Can you come to the playground with me?”

“Yes!” Daniel leapt up and grabbed his coat in one move, showing an enthusiasm for playgrounds that Jack had never associated with him before.

“They’re growing on you?” he asked.

“If you’re coming,” grinned Daniel.

“Do we not need to tell Martha where you’re going?”

“Oh, she’s not here yet, she’s still sorting things out at the old house,” Daniel informed him. “No one minds if I head out.”

Jack shuddered, the kid was 9. Although, at least it didn’t really fit with the surveillance theory, maybe Daniel really was in the clear after all?

No, Jack told himself, that was stupid. Why on earth would Daniel end up with Harry – like Jack – if he wasn’t involved somehow.

With something Jack had no clue about.

Jack was just debating not explaining at all to Daniel, when the kid nudged him in the ribs and fixed him a good hard stare as soon as he looked down.

“You’d better spit it out, Jack. My Mum used to say that worrying about things without telling a friend was what made grown ups go wrinkly.”

“I’m worried that Harry’s been following me, Danny.” A fresh wave of anger swept through Jack as he spoke the words out loud to Daniel.

“Harry? My sort of brother, Harry? Why would he do that? He couldn’t hurt you though, Jack, could he? Is that why you’re worried?”

“I don’t know why, which is really what’s worrying me. Well, that and I don’t know if he’s looking out for you too.”

“Me? Nooo, I don’t do anything important, Jack, and Harry doesn’t want me around at all.”

The kid did have a point, and Jack felt marginally better for hearing it, but his gut really wasn’t agreeing with him.

“I’m wondering if maybe you should get out, before whatever’s going on with Harry comes to bite us.”

“But he’s not after me,” pointed out Daniel. “Are you just trying to send me away?”

“No!” Jack put his arm round Daniel, trying to reassure him.

“I’ve only just got here,” added Daniel.

“I know, and I’m so pleased to see you, but I really don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“It won’t, Jack, I’ll be careful.”

Jack paused for a moment, knowing that there was only one way Daniel would possibly go anywhere. Knowing that it had to be now, while the family weren’t paying much attention to him.

“I can’t look after you here,” he started. “I was thinking if we found your old family and sent you back there, then provided you lay low, you’ll probably be safe.”

“They’re not after me, Jack, you’re just sending me away for nothing!” Tears ran down Daniel’s cheeks as his dreams about getting to see Jack and Charlie regularly, of actually having friends, went up in smoke.

“I’m not!” Jack reached for him again, but Daniel was already moving, sprinting out of the playground and back towards his house.

Jack sighed, rubbing his own eyes as he headed back for the bus home. Maybe just by staying out of his way he could make sure things were OK for Daniel.

 


	16. Chapter 16

1975

Hidden in a corner of the new house, Daniel retreated into a book. Or he tried to. The tome he’d borrowed from the recently discovered library had promised all sorts of exciting Ancient Egyptian escapes from his real life, but was currently delivering only a large volume of dust as he turned each page. Daniel couldn’t stop thinking about Jack, and what he’d said.

He’d promised Jack back when he’d stopped writing to him that he wouldn’t let people make him believe Jack didn’t want to see him. Could that include Jack himself? It was hard to understand how anyone could possibly be after Daniel, but Jack had genuinely seemed to be worried. But then on the other hand, it all seemed so much like other times he’d been rejected – with kids at school, and in the home before Fen. It was difficult to tell the difference.

It was difficult to concentrate on Ancient Egypt too, even with the prospect of arguing with the author – who was clearly a bit fuzzy on one or two details.

Then he heard Hank on the phone.

“Tell that glowy eyed freak, the subject hasn’t been near any weapons, OK Rossendale. You’ve got to stop being such a suck up man, or he’ll just wipe the floor with you.”

“I don’t care what he thinks should have been found, I trained Harry myself, he wouldn’t have missed something like that. You’re all just going to have to be patient.”

“Kinsey can wait too, he’s a big boy. We’re working on it, we’re the best, you’ll get what you’re after. And I expect due compensation – and no more phone calls at the house.”

“Good, I’ve had an eye on that post for a while, I’ll be expecting it when this is complete.”

Hank hung up without another word, no sign that he cared for this Rossendale guy at all, he barely managed to avoid breaking the phone. Daniel held his breath as the man walked back past him again, well aware that this was information Hank wouldn’t have wanted him to hear. He wouldn’t be pleased if he...

The dusty book chose the worst possible time to make itself known. Suddenly, instead of silently holding his breath in a near-invisible corner of the house, Daniel found himself in the grip of an impressive sneezing fit that could have woken the entire house. Naturally, Hank was hard pressed not to notice, although Daniel did take a moment to note that being held up by the collar of his shirt did wonders to stop him sneezing.

“What are you doing here, boy?”

Hank was definitely angry. Daniel wasn’t at all sure where to start, after all, essentially he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I mean it boy, why are you lurking round here? We gave you your own room, you need to use it.”

“I will,” spluttered Daniel, between gasps for air.

“What did you hear?” Hank pressed. Dropping Daniel, but paying no mind to his continued struggle to breathe.

“I...” Daniel panted one more time, then gave up and started feeling his pockets for his inhaler, trying desperately to ignore the large, angry face before him.

“What?” Hank shook him again, and Daniel passed out.

                                                            *********

George Hammond knew he shouldn’t, but he felt incredibly exposed wandering round the academy. Ordinarily, were he to have business here it would be under orders, with a whole chain of superiors to back him up should anyone ask any questions, but this time there was just him and Jacob. Hardly superior enough to slip by unnoticed if he drew suspicion.

“Keep calm and carry on,” George told himself, smiling inwardly despite the circumstances. One advantage he did have was his memory of Jack – he’d liked the man. Now he was merely betting on liking the boy. Sorry, young man.

Finally finding the door he sought, Hammond rapped his knuckles on it sharply.

                                                            *********

Daniel came round to find himself in bed with his inhaler in reach and Hank sitting, more calmly next to him. His breathing seemed much easier, although it felt like every muscle in his chest hurt. He looked at Hank warily. “Usually I have to go to hospital if that happens.”

Hank nodded. “First aid training, comes in handy sometimes.”

Ah, made sense. Daniel continued to stare at Hank, wondering when he was likely to start shouting, or at least asking questions again, but he didn’t, instead he shifted Daniel’s blanket over him more comfortably and turned to leave. “Whatever you heard, Daniel, you can’t tell anyone,” he added as he left, not even waiting for a response.

Daniel didn’t doubt it. He couldn’t.

He lay in bed for a while, resting as he knew he was supposed to. Then, slowly, as he felt a bit better, his mind started to work overtime, piecing together what Jack had been saying with the snippets of conversation on the phone. Weapons? Glowy eyes? And Harry.

That much was for sure, Jack might have been mistaken about the threat to Daniel, but there was something going on with Harry. He needed to go and warn him.

Staggering out of bed, Daniel opened his bedroom door to reveal Paul.

“You!” the older boy raged.

“Me?” squeaked Daniel, his throat still rough. Wracking his brain for what on earth Paul thought he’d done, Daniel continued to come up blank. What?

“Dad was supposed to take me to trials this evening, and instead he spent his time babysitting you.”

Right. Shifting gear from conspiracies to regular school jock stuff, Daniel’s brain refused to come up with anything helpful to say. “Sorry,” he tried.

“Yes,” agreed Paul, swinging his right arm to hit Daniel firmly on the cheek and send him flying back into his room, then moving in to deliver a single, sharp kick to the ribs. “Don’t do it again.”

 


	17. Chapter 17

1975

Hammond was a good man, Jack could see that straight away, but still that niggling doubt introduced by Harry’s deception ate away at him. Was he just a good actor? Was this a really good way to properly get Jack into trouble?

Probably not, Harry had never exactly looked like a good man, just a friend of sorts.

Just about to go with his instincts, Jack was called to answer the phone, an answering cadet laughing something about a secret admirer, leaving Hammond stood on tender hooks in his room.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt for the man to think about it for a minute – maybe he’d be more likely to leave if he was up to no good.

“Hello?” Jack answered the phone.

“Jack!” sobbed Daniel. “Can you come get me? I don’t want to stay here anymore.”

“Shh, of course, Daniel, anytime.” Despite his pain at the boy’s voice, Jack couldn’t help but be relieved that Daniel would still come to him. “Where are you? At home?”

“It’s not home anymore,” sniffed Daniel.

                                                            ***********

Jack didn’t hang around, going with his gut and trusting Hammond, urged on by the availability of his car, they were outside Daniel’s house faster than either of the two men would have believed possible. Jack leaped from the car before Hammond had even put the parking brake on, and pushed the door cautiously, praying that he didn’t need to ring the bell. There, a few steps behind the door, holding a few books and a single change of clothes, stood Daniel.

The boy’s eyes were full of tears, just as they had been on the phone, but the bruise on Daniel’s cheek and the odd gasp of pain from his side gave evidence to the sort of time Daniel had had this evening.

After Jack had apparently abandoned him, Jack chastised himself.

But it wasn’t that simple, he’d been trying to warn him, he knew. Bending down to look Daniel in the eye, Jack asked simply, “who?”

His throat sounding raspy for reasons that clearly went beyond crying, Daniel whispered, “Paul. Mostly.” Then he reached his arms round Jack’s neck, and cried.


	18. Chapter 18

1975

Somehow, Jack knew he could trust Hammond. Even as he rushed Daniel away from that house, he didn’t think twice about handing over all control of the situation. It didn’t matter, Hammond was a good guy. So leaving Hammond to navigate them safely away from the Maybournes’ without even asking where it was he was taking them, didn’t even register on Jack’s worry-o-meter as he himself climbed into the back of the car with Daniel.

 

“How is he?” asked Hammond quietly, when the sobs seemed to have died down a bit.

 

“Sore,” muttered Jack, through clenched teeth. “I realize we just met, but at the minute I just really need to do something. Is there a next step in your plan, beyond simply finding me?”

 

“Sir?” added Jack, belatedly.

 

“There’s no need for formalities here, son,” smiled Hammond. “At this point, we’re so far below the radar moles couldn’t find us.”

 

“I had that feeling,” nodded Jack, his fingers tightening again on Daniel’s arm, although the boy seemed to be sleeping for the moment. Kids could fall asleep at the strangest times.

 

“It just so happens there is a next step,” said Hammond. “A meeting of minds, if you will. We were hoping that you might agree to meet with my accomplice, Jacob Carter, so that we could all compare notes.”  


“What happened to him?”

 

“His daughter was being stalked.”

 

“Nice.” Jack glanced again at Daniel. “How old is she?”

 

“Eleven or so, I believe.”

 

“What a lovely bunch of people we find ourselves involved with,” said Jack. “Lead on, George.”

 

The drive didn’t take long, though the speed of the thoughts racing round in Jack’s head made it seem longer. Why hadn’t he insisted on Daniel leaving? Why on earth were the Maybournes so interested in Daniel – and Jack? Where did Hammond and Carter fit into all of this? Too many questions just rattling round in his head, making friends with his vast relief that Daniel still trusted him. That he was the on the kid had called.

 

“This is it,” announced Hammond, pulling up in front of an ordinary two storey, suburban house. Not so different from the one they’d just escaped.

 

Jack nodded, climbing out then reaching in to lift Daniel from his seat. Initially, Jack thought gratefully that he might stay asleep, but he quickly stirred at the change in movement, and within a minute or so he was wriggling to be put down.

 

“You OK, buddy?”

 

“I’m fine,” whispered Daniel, holding on to Jack’s hand nonetheless. “Where are we?”

 

“This is George, he’s having some trouble with Harry too and thinks there might be something more to it. We’re about to visit a guy named Jacob whose daughter has also had an encounter with them.”

 

“Pleased to meet you, Daniel,” smiled Hammond, seriously shaking the boy’s hand. “Shall we?” he gestured to the front door.

 

                                                            ********

 

In the cosy, if rather sparse, setting of the Carter family living room, supplied variously with coffee or hot chocolate, the threats of strange stalkers and conspirators seemed slightly unreal, as though perhaps they could just wish them away and resume normal life. Jack’s anger, however, wasn’t abating, and if he needed a reminder that all was not well, the smallest glance at Daniel’s bruised face would rectify it.

 

“We need to compare notes,” he began, without preamble.

 

“I think perhaps I should start,” suggested Hammond. “I have a strong suspicion that I was witness to the beginning of this story in 1969, when I encountered four time travelers from the future.”

 

Jack’s mouth opened to speak, but Hammond simply nodded.

 

“Yes, you. And young Samantha,” they both turned to look at the young girl, sat on the arm of her Dad’s chair.

 

Hammond paused. “And, I believe we have found the third member of the team this evening – Daniel.”

 

“Daniel?”

 

“Me?”

 

“It was hard to be sure at first, but I’m almost certain. There was also a fourth member of your team, a tall, black man who as I recall was prone to be rather literal when you spoke to him.”

 

Jack looked round to catch the eyes of his young “teammates”, then taking the lead responded, “we’ve not met him,” as though they’d been a team all their lives.

 

“It’s not so surprising,” agreed Hammond, “after all, prior to this evening the three of you had never been in one room either. You will be considerably older when you embark on your little adventure – and I am called on to aid you in your return home.”

 

“Sounds good, why the trouble though?”

 

“The trouble started more recently,” said Hammond, “when an annoying little man named Rossendale paid me a visit.”

 

“Rossendale?” asked Daniel, leaping off the sofa he shared with Jack with sudden animation. “I heard that name.”

 

“You did?” Jack, Jacob and Hammond responded, almost simultaneously.

 

“Why didn’t you mention it?” grumbled Jack. “Is that what this evening was about?”

 

“No, well yes, sort of indirectly. But I promised I wouldn’t say anything,” shrugged Daniel.

 

“I think that sort of promise is invalid, in the circumstances,” pointed out Jack.

 

“You’re sure?” asked Daniel.

 

“It’s fine, son,” encouraged Hammond. “We’re pretty certain these are bad guys, and you might know something really important to help us work out what they’re up to. The bad guy just doesn’t want you telling so you don’t give his game away.”

 

“Well you would say he’s bad,” began Daniel, “he’d probably say the same about you.”  


“Daniel,” warned Jack.

 

“Sorry,” Daniel rubbed his forehead, “that was stupid.”

 

“So what did you hear?” pressed Jacob. “Who is this guy?”  


“I didn’t hear much, mostly names – Rossendale and Kinsey. And something about a guy with glowing eyes.”

 

“Kinsey?” asked Jacob. “The politician? Piece of work by all accounts, but we haven’t exactly crossed paths.”

 

“A Colonel, a politician and a man with glowing eyes? It sounds as though we’re the punchline to a really bad joke,” put in Jack.

 

“Yeah,” agreed Jacob. “A joke that doesn’t appear to be child friendly either. These guys are after my Sam, I need to know why.”

 

“Better than that, we need to stop them,” said Jack.

 

“First, we need to keep their prize out of reach,” put in Hammond, “and the only thing we know they want is you three.”

 

“You want us to hide?” asked Daniel.

 

“In the house,” pointed out Jack, “not in the closet. Avoiding school, that sort of thing.”

 

Daniel shrugged. “You think we need to?”

 

“I do,” put in Sam, speaking for the first time. “That guy who chased me was scary, and look at the state of you!” She moved to stand next to him, demonstrating just how much taller the extra couple of years made her. “I’ve done martial arts training, but I couldn’t have taken him,” she added.

 

Daniel stared intently at his feet, his embarrassment at getting beaten up palpable.

 

“Not your fault, kiddo,” whispered Jack. “Besides, it’ll be fun – not like you were doing anything this exciting in school.”


	19. Chapter 19

1975

Harry came round with a groan, somewhere at the back of his mind dreaming about his Mum making a pie out of old socks so that she could make good use of them instead of throwing them out. It made no sense.

Neither did the refusal of Harry’s arm to move so that he could check his watch for the time.

“Wh..?”

Or his suddenly muffled voice.

Slowly, as Harry’s senses came round, he began to recognise his predicament. It wasn’t good.

He was securely tied to a chair, both hands and both feet tightly fastened and nowhere near one another, no way he was reaching to unpick any knots. His hands were behind him too, so even without the mouthful of (presumably) old socks, he wasn’t getting there with his teeth. More cord fixed his waist and shoulders to the back of the chair.

It was uncomfortable, and annoying.

“He..y!” he tried to shout, but very little noise seemed to get through and it made the strong sock flavour that much worse, so he decided to leave it for the moment. Instead, he began to take in more of the details.

He wasn’t in his room.

In fact, he appeared to be in some kind of public waiting room, although mercifully it was deserted. His brain dimly recalled that it was Sunday anyway, so he probably had a little bit of leeway there.

Then he noticed the door to his left, and the plaque on the front of it.

He was sat, tied to a chair, outside the General’s office.

Harry swore. He could really do without being brought to the General’s attention, whether or not he appeared to be the victim.

He struggled for a few minutes, accomplishing very little other than making his wrists sore, then paused for a breather. He might as well just wait, it was still early, his Dad was bound to realise and sort this out before the General caught him.

Plus, it did clarify one thing - his tailing days were definitely over, he’d been made. 


	20. Chapter 20

1975

Daniel was fascinated, beyond fascinated, he was intrigued. He was something he didn’t have a word for.

Sam was amazing.

Granted, her knowledge of Ancient Egyptians was lacking, but she was interested in everything, and she knew so much about gadgets and engineering really amazing stuff.

Really, really amazing.

Sam had been talking about building a weapon so that they could protect themselves, although granted neither one of them had been particularly broken up about missing school. It wasn’t right being forced indoors by what essentially amounted to a bunch of bullies (Jacob’s words, not Sam’s – Daniel noted). Daniel hadn’t been particularly keen on building a weapon either though, even when Sam had promised it would only stun, so Sam had decided that she’d quite like to beat them at their own game: surveillance.

She was trying to build a tracking device.

Daniel wasn’t clear on all the precise details, but he was more than able to provide continuing enthusiasm and a string of questions.

The device was to be based on the use of artificial landmarks, which seemed to be the easiest way to go at the moment, so it was going to require them to spread the landmarks around the local area and make sure that no one noticed and moved them. Sam was quite certain that she could do that, as she was already quite clear on which gardens contained dogs. She suggested that Daniel would make a good lookout, and given his lack of athletic prowess, tendency to sneeze and current stiffness when moving, Daniel was perfectly happy with that concession.

“Sam, is that supposed to be flashing?” Daniel pointed to a small, red LED near his feet.

 “Ah, no, not really, well spotted.” Sam walked over and with a hiss of her soldering iron the LED stopped. “It’s supposed to be set to infrared,” she added, by way of explanation, “so no one notices it.”

“What’s that for?” Daniel pointed to a large, spiralling antenna.

“So that the camera can radio back its position.”

“Sam,” said Daniel, “I don’t think we can really stick a camera to a bad guy without him noticing.”

“No,” agreed Sam. “It’d be good for tracking ourselves, but useless for tracking the opposition, I’m wondering if we could make use of it more as an assisted tailing device – maybe try to get an LED on the bad guy and chase with the camera, so everyone knows where we are.”

Daniel grinned. Amazing.

“Where we are?” put in Jacob, wandering down the stairs with Jack at just the wrong moment.

“I meant someone, of course, Dad,” shrugged Sam, knowing that her Dad wasn’t really that cross. He loved her machines, even if she had stolen LEDs out of every appliance in the house – she had upgraded them after all, and she did usually put them back.

“Wow,” said Jack. “You been having fun, Danny? Will it fry an egg?”

“Given enough juice it might,” admitted Sam, grinning sheepishly.

“We’re helping,” said Daniel, beaming from ear to ear, completely different from the child Jack had rescued not 24 hours before. Being in danger was obviously good for the kid.

“Absolutely,” laughed Jack, giving Daniel a high five and winking at Sam. “We probably need some sort of overall strategy don’t you think, though? Maybe some way to work out what it is the bad guys are up to?”

“This is for tracking them,” put in Sam, “or it will be when it’s finished.”

“We’ve got time for now, I think,” said Jack, “we’ve sent Harry a little message suggesting he back off, and George is positive that Rossendale and Kinsey are well out of the area at the moment. Plenty of time to come up with a good plan of attack.”

“Absolutely, Jack. Now all we need is some inkling of where to start,” sighed Jacob, sinking into a seated position on the stairwell and resting his head on his hands. 


	21. Chapter 21

2005

“Teal’c, I need to speak to you.”

Jacob Carter’s presence in the SGC was something of a surprise to the large Jaffa, but his appearance in Teal’c quarters was a complete, and rather unwelcome surprise.

“You are speaking to me already, General Carter.”

“Just Jacob now, Teal’c, please, I’m not with the Air Force anymore.”

“You are with the Tok’ra, nodded Teal’c, I was under the impression they had little use for Jaffa.”

“Generally speaking, that’s true – I’m sorry – but this is more of a human matter,” pressed Jacob.

“You are still partly of the Tauri,” nodded Teal’c, “you seek to protect this world as I do.”

“Of course, Teal’c, and my daughter.”

“There is a threat to Captain Carter?”

“In a manner of speaking,” agreed Jacob. “Is it OK if I come in?”

“You may enter,” agreed Teal’c, stepping away from the door. “How can I be of assistance?”

“I’m concerned about the defeat of Ra,” began Jacob.

“Ra was defeated by Colonel O’Neill and Daniel Jackson several years ago, Ra has not been heard of since, I see no cause for concern,” dismissed Teal’c.

“Time travel,” put in Jacob. “Do you believe that if Jack and Daniel were taken out of the equation Ra would still be defeated?”

“I am uncertain,” admitted Teal’c, “but why would they, or this event, be under threat?”

“Because the four of you didn’t go entirely unnoticed when you travelled to 1969, Teal’c. Some rather unsavoury characters noticed, and decided to take advantage of the situation. Without, I might add, having any clue about the situation they were taking advantage of.”

“We are unable to knowingly time travel,” objected Teal’c, “how are we to warn them?”

“Never say never, Teal’c,” grinned Jacob, producing a piece of paper from his pocket. “Are you with me?”

“I have pledged to protect Colonel O’Neill, Daniel Jackson and Captain Carter with my life,” said Teal’c, nodding slightly to Jacob.

“I’ll take that as a yes, Teal’c. Plus you’ll get the opportunity to make sure a false god stays dead.”

“That will increase my satisfaction.”

Teal’c followed Jacob out of the room.


	22. Chapter 22

1975

“I’m not sure I should be here if it’s a date, Jack,” grumbled Daniel, nonetheless jogging slightly to keep up with his friend’s pace. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

“You won’t be, Danny. This is only the second time I’ve seen her, and she’s going to love you. Besides, Sam’s out and there’s no way I’m leaving you alone at Jacob’s – you’ll blow the place up or get kidnapped or something.”

“Jack!” objected Daniel, slightly hurt.

“OK, fine, I’d worry instead of having a good time, how about that? Besides, I’ve not known this girl long, and given my recent history of new friends, I’d like to know which side of the fence to put her on.”

“You think she could be with Harry?”

“Yeah. Well, no, not really, but a guy’s entitled to his paranoia,” insisted Jack, grabbing Daniel’s arm. “Come on, we’ll be late.”

“Jack! Jack!” a pleasant, female voice called over to them from inside the park the moment they entered the gates. “I didn’t know you were bringing a friend,” she added more quietly, as they reached her, causing Daniel to blush.

“He’s, err, visiting,” said Jack. “Sara, this is Daniel.”

“Hi Daniel,” said Sara, solemnly shaking his hand and quite apparently checking out the fading bruises on his cheek. “You been a bit adventurous in the playground there?” she asked.

“Sara’s a nurse,” added Jack.

Daniel blushed again. “Disagreement with my foster brother,” he blurted out, instantly wondering why he hadn’t just lied and said yes.

Sara frowned. “That’s why you’re staying with Jack?”

“He’s a friend,” whispered Daniel, a little shyly. “I didn’t really want to go back.”

Jack smiled and put his arm round Daniel. “Good friend,” he nodded.

“Well, there’s plenty for everyone, of course,” said Sara, “and it’s lovely to meet a friend of Jack’s who doesn’t spend his time saluting and marching and so on.”

“Hey!”

“Or drinking,” winked Sara, passing Jack a plate full of sandwiches.

The afternoon passed very pleasantly, with Daniel’s presence only having a positive effect on how Jack and Sara felt about one another. Rather than disrupting conversation, the bright little boy kept the adults on their toes, introducing strange changes of direction that made them think. And he brought out attributes that Jack and Sara might normally have kept to themselves.

Instead of being unsure about whether he could trust Sara, Jack left thinking that what he’d really like to do would be marry her and have a huge family.

And Sara got to see a cadet without getting an earful of bragging and air force stuff.

As Jack and Daniel were just about to leave, headed back for an evening catching up with Jack’s mountain of work, Sara pulled Jack over to one side and whispered in his ear.

“He’s lovely, Jack,” she breathed, “but you know you can’t keep him indefinitely. What’s going to happen to him?”

Despite her words, Jack was affected by her concern for his little friend, and visions of them marrying and adopting Daniel flashed through his head, before reality allowed him to suggest, “maybe his previous family? He was really happy there.”

“I hope so,” she replied, turning and departing herself without another word.

“More to think about,” grumbled Jack, half-heartedly. “Didn’t anyone tell her I’m not known for thinking?”


	23. Chapter 23

1975

Jack felt a lot like pinching himself. Or cold water, that might do the trick. He trusted Hammond, he really did, but the guy had just turned up at Jacob’s house with an extra Jacob. Like we needed a spare! Oh yeah, and a great big, imposing guy who looked like he could outstare anything known to man and was supposedly the fourth member of this team. That Jack had been in charge of.

Definitely dream material. Although, come to mention it, Jack didn’t think his sub-conscious was quite that warped. Reality then.

Daniel and Sam seemed to be taking the whole thing much better. Despite the sheer, terrifying bulk of the big guy, Daniel had really taken a shine to him, asking him questions about who knows what and allowing his target to exhibit an amazing well of patience. Sam, on the other hand, was much more fascinated with two Jacobs, and what effect on the space-time continuum they might have. Jack suspected she was trying to be worried about it, but actually too excited to see both of them to really focus on it.

Good for her.

Jack was just worried.

Hammond too, by the looks of it.

“So, people, if we can just get down to this,” George waved everyone into a seating position. “Firstly, I would like to introduce Jacob – who you largely already know – and Teal’c.” There was a pause while the majority of the crowd shared nods, then Hammond continued. “As you may have gathered, they have travelled through time in order to get here and assist us with our present predicament, which is apparently more serious than we may have initially realised.”

“The fate of the universe is at stake,” stated Teal’c, matter of factly.

“The universe? I thought it was a stretch worrying about the household!” questioned Jack.

“He’s not kidding, Jack,” added older Jacob. “He’s really not. You see, you and Daniel start a revolution.”

“Now?”

“Well, no, not now. The actual revolution is after Daniel’s grown up.”

“And three thousand years ago,” added Teal’c.

“Teal’c, I’m not sure that’s relevant at this moment,” complained Jacob. “Remember we discussed minimising the impact?”

“I apologise, Jacob Carter, I had not considered this information to be sensitive.”

“Anyhow,” Jacob sighed, “the revolution occurs when Jack and Daniel destroy an evil Goa’uld known as Ra.”

“The sun God?” asked Daniel. “I’m not sure I want to destroy him.”

“He is a false God who seeks to enslave people, do not feel sympathy for this creature, Daniel Jackson.”

“But... I don’t want to kill people.” Daniel was clearly horrified, so Jack stepped in in an attempt to rescue Teal’c.

“Danny, maybe we should hear the rest of this story, eh? After all, there might have been beautiful girls to rescue and peoples to free, you don’t know all the circumstances here, don’t judge yourself.”

“Indeed,” confirmed Teal’c, with what Jack suspected was a smirk.

“OK,” conceded Daniel, turning to look at older Jacob again. “Sorry.”

“The destruction of this evil Goa’uld is the beginning of a wider revolution that will free Teal’c people, it’s vital that this event still happens,” continued Jacob.

“So why wouldn’t it?” asked Jack.

“There’s a spanner in the works – here and now there’s a lesser Goa’uld who’s still trying to gain favour from Ra to atone for some random crime he committed way back.”

“2995 BC, in fact,” put in Teal’c.

“Thank you, Teal’c,” responded Jacob, tersely. “We’re not sure precisely who this Goa’uld is, but he’s recognised you four and although he clearly realises that you have travelled in time, he has set his sights on you.”

“Jack shrugged, “You’re talking about one guy, surely we can just take him on – why all the cloak and time travel?”

“This ‘one guy’ is a Goa’uld, and even without his advanced technology he will be unnaturally strong, whilst you are children,” clarified Teal’c.

“Hey!” objected Jack.

“He’s also got the support of a number of locals,” added Jacob, diverting the fight. “We suspect his supporters are primarily on the hunt for the advanced weaponry that was witnessed at the incident in 1969.” Older Jacob glanced at Hammond.

“That would make sense, they have seemed awfully interested in that,” agreed George. “It’s all been destroyed though.”

“Pity,” shrugged Jacob, “I suspected as much though.”

“So if this guy’s undefeatable, what’s the plan?” asked Jack.

“We must protect you until we can discover precisely who he is,” said Teal’c. “Then we will ensure that he is no longer a threat.”

“You’ll kill him?” asked Daniel.

“We’re hoping to take him home and extract the Goa’uld, Daniel. To save the man.”

“Extract?”

“The Goa’uld is a parasite that takes over a human’s body, does this assist in your worries over the Goa’uld’s death?”

“Yeah, thanks,” murmured Daniel, obviously sickened. “So who is it in?”

“That,” said Jacob, “is what we’re looking to find out.”


	24. Chapter 24

1975

Sam was baking a cake. A real, no electronic parts, no chance of explosion cake. She was feeling very proud of herself, although she did have to admit that she should really save the pride until after a successful testing. Still, it was baked, it smelled right, and she just had the icing to go.

Teal’c, and Jack, had both been very enthusiastic, when they weren’t running interference for her keeping Daniel out of the way. Teal’c was apparently a big fan of cake, but this one was for Daniel’s birthday, so Teal’c was going to have to wait.

Daniel would be 10 tomorrow.

To Sam, at 11 and pushing 12, her 10th birthday seemed like a long time ago, but it was nice to make a fuss of Daniel about it, having him around had been great fun – way more fun than her real brother, Mark.

In the basement, currently distracted by Teal’c, Daniel was exploring the connections between Goa’ulds that Teal’c had met, and Ancient Egyptian Gods, he was fascinated. Particularly by Teal’c’s tales of the traits Apophis had tried to incorporate into his persona to assist in the illusion that he was a God. Jack had seemed oddly nervous when they’d been discussing that, and had kept coughing and suggesting Teal’c move on just as things were getting interesting, but since Jack had popped upstairs to see what Sam was up to, the two of them remained uninterrupted. Teal’c was teaching Daniel a whole new language – one that no one on earth had ever heard spoken.

At least, except for this Goa’uld who was after them.

A crash upstairs had both Daniel and Teal’c on their feet and looking at the stairs. “Jack?” called Daniel, “Sam? Are you OK?”

“They have probably had a malfunction in the kitchen,” suggested Teal’c, “I will investigate.”

“OK,” agreed Daniel, moving to go with Teal’c until the large Jaffa placed a hand on his chest.

“Wait here, remember we are still under surveillance. Remain quiet.”

Daniel frowned, but nodded, glancing round to see if there was any useful piece of Sam’s equipment he could grab as Teal’c moved silently up the stairs.

Moments later, alarmed by a second thud, Daniel made his way halfway up the stairs before someone much larger and stronger pushed him back down again and the world went dark.

As he slipped into unconsciousness, he fervently hoped he’d left the Jacobs and George enough information to find them.


	25. Chapter 25

Approx 3000 BC

Yehia sat and waited. He was used to sitting and waiting, in his calling as one of Ra’s entourage, many hours had been whiled away awaiting opportunities to serve his God, and he was content to continue, even in these unusual circumstances.

Still, it was difficult to completely hide his small shiver of fear. Praying that his God did not notice, Yehia closed his eyes to still himself, concentrating on his pride that his God had selected him for this task, and on the simple feelings of the desert outside, with the steady chatter of the Egyptian people going about their business, unaware of this hidden room inside Ra’s palace.

Unaware of its purpose, as Yehia continued to be. For a mere 4 minutes.

Once 4 minutes had passed, his God Ra appeared, accompanied by several of his Jaffa. To Yehia’s astonishment, one of the Jaffa removed his armour and reached into his pouch, handing the young Goa’uld to Ra with a bow.

“You have been honoured, my servant,” Ra told Yehia. “I introduce you to your new master, Tem.”

                                                            *************

2995 BC

“You witnessed these slaves as they blasphemed against their God! You saw their leaders, you saw their plans, yet you did nothing. You allowed this, and so you must live with it. With them,” roared Ra, his eyes flashing, and his hand clearly about to make final Tem’s failure as he raised the hand device.

“Please, my Lord,” begged Tem. “I did not see what they planned.”

“You not only saw, you welcomed it, Tem. I’ve seen your designs on the throne. I’ve seen how you long for your own position to rule.”

“No, no! I wouldn’t, I serve only you, Great Ra,” protested Tem again.

Ra paused, glancing back to the crowds of revolting Egyptian slaves. “Serve me here,” smiled Ra, giving Tem a final shove away from the ring device as he activated it to board his vessel.

As Tem watched from the ground, the pyramid ship took off and left orbit, leaving him alone in the company of these primitive men who had done the impossible, and deposed Ra. Remaining in the shadows, Tem concentrated on self-preservation, he knew that any opportunities would take time. Creeping round the bodies until he found one of the appropriate size, Tem carefully exchanged his ostentatious robes for more subtle attire and blended into the background, following the victors as they made their own way, and listening to the stories of the plotters he had witnessed.

                                                            *************

1965 (AD)

Lamenting, once again, the absence of a sarcophagus on this cursed planet, Tem waited for his opportunity to arise. Just as he had been when he was back in Egypt, waiting on his God, Tem knew how to be patient, that if he could place himself properly, opportunities would present themselves. Over the last decades, he had seen the humans’ technology increase beyond his expectations, vastly improving every day life from what he had long since grown used to. And he had witnessed them unearth the long lost Chappa’ai from the ground in Egypt, not lost with Ra as Tem had long believed.

He had discovered too which organisation currently took ownership of the Chappa’ai, and now he sought to join them.

Slowly, Tem’s aging body stood, detecting the approach of his target. He carefully and precisely, stepped off the kerb and into the road, allowing himself to be struck by the oncoming motor vehicle, a dark green jeep.

The driver, Hank Maybourne, stepped out to see an old man lying prone on the ground, blood pouring from a gash on his head and one of his legs twisted at an entirely unnatural angle.

“Hank! Come on, we can’t be seen with this, get back in!” a voice yelled from the passenger seat.

“Give it a rest, Kinsey, hit and run is a felony. Besides, I’ve got to see what I can do for this guy, road sense or no road sense. You go call an ambulance.”

As a grumbling Kinsey exited the vehicle in search of a payphone, Hank returned his attention to the old man, this time carefully checking for pulse and breathing. Getting no response, Hank started to try to resuscitate the guy. 


	26. Chapter 26

1975

Daniel came to to find himself sprawled on the floor, partially under a desk, in what appeared to be a grandiose, penthouse apartment. A cursory check of his limbs assured him that nothing was broken, although the act of sitting up did cause him to emit a loud groan as his back and head protested.

“Daniel Jackson, are you well?”

“I’m fine, Teal’c, are you OK?”

Daniel’s head popped up from behind the desk to reveal Teal’c, Jack and Sam tightly tied to three office chairs.

“I am fine, Daniel Jackson, however, we would all much appreciate your assistance.”

“Right,” Daniel snapped into action, initially racing to Jack’s side, then turning to Teal’c as he realised Teal’c might be handy in a fight, his small fingers struggling with the array of knots. He was still struggling with the first wrist, having only marginally loosened it, several minutes later when a tall, blond man entered the room, causing Teal’c to move round in the chair so far it nearly overbalanced.

“Michael?” asked Teal’c, his eyebrow raised in a mild expression of surprise. “Your presence here is unexpected.”

“Who’s he?” whispered Jack.

“He is the dude who assisted us with transportation when we originally travelled in time.”

“Good guy?”

“Indeed. I am most perturbed by his attendance here.”

Michael, seemingly entirely unperturbed by their presence, stepped further into the room. “Need a hand there, guys?”

“That would be nice,” agreed Jack, his eyebrow raised almost as far as Teal’c’s. “How about the ropes?”

“Ah,” said Teal’c. “I believe I can now comprehend the discrepancy.”

“And that is?” pressed Jack impatiently.

“I’m not exactly Michael, Jack,” answered the Goa’uld Tem, his eyes giving Jack, Sam and Daniel their first good look at the enemy they would spend years chasing.

“Whoa, nice parlour trick, dude, very threatening, sets the yellow shades off nicely,” quipped Jack. “What’s next?”

“I think Daniel Jackson,” said Tem/Michael, grabbing the boy by the throat and moving him well away from the knots he had been interfering with. “He’s causing trouble and we don’t like that.”

“He’s just a kid!” protested Jack, “leave him alone.”

“This one was never just a kid,” argued Tem, “and as an adult I feel he was a thorn in Ra’s side. Enough that his excellence will be honoured by his capture. I think he will like to see the hope in all of your eyes die.”

“The hope?” mouthed Jack silently at Teal’c, eliciting another eyebrow.

“Many Goa’uld like to play with their prey,” answered Teal’c, unconcerned that Tem heard him. “It makes them feel stronger. This one probably chose to enter it’s host via the mouth so that it could see the victim’s eyes as he failed to escape. He is probably compensating for something. Possibly impotence.”

Tem’s eye’s flashed and his grip around Daniel’s throat drew tighter, making the boy squeak slightly.

“Teal’c!” hissed Jack.

Teal’c inclined his head in acknowledgement and drew silent.

Tem strutted before his three prisoners, the gasping form of Daniel barely affecting his gait as he continued to dangle him by the throat. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Goody,” muttered Jack. “Should we close our eyes?”

“If you wish,” shrugged Tem, reaching into the pocket of his eccentric, hippy clothing and withdrawing a small, metallic ball. “His highness Ra will be indifferent.”

“This is a communicator,” Teal’c spoke once more. “He will be able to speak to Ra at great distances.”

“In space?” asked Sam, her fascination clearly overriding her fear for the moment.

“Indeed. We do not wish Ra to see our faces, it may affect our later deeds.”

“Later deeds?” asked Tem, “how interesting, I must remember that. I’m sure Ra will be most grateful.”

“I will not make a false God grateful,” grunted Teal’c. No longer working on the ropes, Teal’c huge muscles were straining as he decided to take on the chair, the strong plastic chair creaking impressively under his efforts.

“I wouldn’t do that, Teal’c,” warned Tem, “I could so easily squeeze.” To demonstrate his intent, Tem gripped Daniel’s neck just a little bit tighter, and the struggling boy finally grew limp. “Next time, I will snap him.”

Unable to risk Daniel’s life, Teal’c relaxed his muscles, looking to Jack for any sign of a plan. But Jack was not the experienced soldier Teal’c was used to, and this was not a situation Teal’c would normally have led in – death was honour for a Jaffa, but not for a human child who would one day be his friend.

“We do not have much time,” announced Teal’c. “Even if Ra is uninterested in us personally, this underling’s contact may well cause him to return to the Earth. The Tauri are not yet prepared to stand against such a formidable foe.”

“I’m thinking,” grumbled Jack, still desperately trying to work on his bonds as the Goa’uld continued his strutting.

Suddenly, Daniel’s limp form tensed, twisting unexpectedly in the Goa’uld’s grip and head butting him full in the face. Tem dropped the boy in order to reach for his nose and mouth in pain, and as he did so the weakened chair quickly gave way to Teal’c, enabling the angry Jaffa to render Tem fully unconscious and smash the communication ball in one fluid movement.

“Thank you Daniel Jackson, you remain most resourceful,” Teal’c commented the beaming, if rather dazed boy. “Now we must complete our departure.” Teal’c quickly searched Tem’s pockets to reveal a simple pen knife to release Jack and Sam before slinging the unconscious Goa’uld over his shoulder. “I will bring him, I believe Jacob Carter will be able to remove the Goa’uld and restore our one time friend.”

“That’s great, Teal’c,” grinned Daniel, before being enveloped in a huge hug by Jack.

“I thought you were a goner there, kid,” whispered Jack, lifting Daniel completely off his feet.

“Ah, how touching.”

As Sam opened the door, another, sneering face appeared in her path.

“Kinsey,” stated Teal’c. “It is not a pleasure to see you.”

“Bad guy?” asked Sam.

“Indeed.”

“I got it,” began Jack, lowering Daniel to the floor even as Sam brought her knee up with a pleasing crunch and felled the politician in a single blow.

“Nevermind, very nice Sam,” complimented Jack, before turning to Teal’c and Daniel and whispering, “I hope we never get on her bad side.”

“Jack!” Sam’s panicked voice brought Jack and Teal’c back to their situation as Hank Maybourne hurtled down the corridor towards them with Eric Rossendale in tow.

“More,” sighed Jack. “You just never run out of bad guys, don’t they know the whole Ra thing is off?”

“I suspect that they were not privy to Tem’s specific plans. More likely they are operating from some base human instinct,” Teal’c glanced casually at the slumped, groaning form of Kinsey at his feet. “Perhaps greed for power, possibly the promise of advanced weaponry. Tem may have believed that we still had the technology we had at our disposal when we first time travelled.”

“Or will travel,” muttered Jack, “this is making my head hurt.”

“Indeed,” agreed Teal’c, casually laying Hank Maybourne out in a single, mighty punch as Jack took out Rossendale at his side. “It will be nice to occupy my own time again.”

“Absolutely, look forward to seeing it,” grinned Jack, holding his hand up to give a bemused (but cooperative) Teal’c a high five. “Let’s go see Jacob and George.”

“I feel they will be most pleased with our gift,” agreed Teal’c, hefting the unconscious Goa’uld back onto his shoulder.


	27. Chapter 27

1975

It took only a matter of hours to establish that the threat had truly been extinguished. Jack wasn’t sure whether it was Teal’c’s presence or Older Jacob’s technological wizardry that achieved it, he had a suspicion that cowardice and self-preservation were particularly high on this dude’s list, but it didn’t take a lot to get a complete run down of the conspiracy that both men had been satisfied with and Jack figured that was enough for him.

He hadn’t been sure he could handle Teal’c actually torturing the guy anyway, and he was certain that Daniel couldn’t, and probably wouldn’t. The kid probably had notes on inter-galactic war conventions.

So, Jack ran through the conspiracy in his head:

“Prevent Goa’uld dude from telling big galactic war lord cum sun god about us and coming to destroy Earth. Check.”

“Ensure that weasels Kinsey and Rossendale have good reason to stay quiet.” Jack pondered for a moment. “Check, don’t think they’ll want to be advertising about that.”

“They won’t cause any problems, Jack,” put in Jacob. “They know we could raise a lot of questions about them.”

“Ahhh,” Jack raised his finger, “checklist. So, ensure that Kinsey and Rossendale have good reason to believe we don’t have any advanced weapons?”

“Check,” said Jacob, “they came right in here and all they’ve got is Sam’s dead toasters.”

“They took stuff?” asked Jack. He hadn’t realised that.

“Yeah,” Jacob grinned. “I wish them luck trying to follow my daughter’s thought processes, but any fool can tell there’s nothing extra-terrestrial there.”

“OK, cool.”

“Sam wasn’t so pleased, she wanted to play with it – but she’ll move on pretty soon.”

“What else is there? Oh yeah, Hank and Harry.”

“I don’t think they’ll be a problem,” said Jacob. “we’re basically in a stalemate. I suspect that Hank just got tempted into an opportunity to fulfil an ambition or two, and got Harry in on it to help. It’s not Hank we’ll have to watch, he probably regrets it already.”

“Harry,” nodded Jack.

“Hank managed to enrol him in your class at the academy without him completing anything, I suspect he’ll graduate without actually doing the course.”

“Hank won’t prevent it?” asked Jack.

“My guess is no, he’ll regret it and he’ll worry about being caught, but Harry’s a devious so and so, he might even blackmail his Dad to keep the spot. We’re going to have to look out for him later.”

“Lovely,” groaned Jack, “I’ll look forward to that.”

“And Kinsey,” shrugged Jacob. “He’s defeated for now, and probably not so focussed on you, but he’ll be back.”

“Right, well, a problem for tomorrow anyway,” said Jack, “we can’t send Daniel back to the Maybourne’s though. Can he go back to his friend Fen? Or could you adopt him? He gets on great with Sam.”

Jacob smiled. “I would love to, but I think probably his friend Fen is the best option, we’re reasonably confident there’s no more threat to you. I’ll leave myself and George instructions to check in with them occasionally, make sure nothing untoward’s going on.”

“What about me?” frowned Jack, “no offense to little you and George but it’s me Danny’s friends with.”

Jacob sighed, “I’m afraid you, Daniel and Sam can’t remember this. Or Charlie – don’t think I don’t know about him. If you remember this, you’ll alter the timeline.”

Jack swallowed, then whispered. “What are you going to do?”

Jacob opened his mouth to answer just as an angry Teal’c swept in and pushed the man to the wall, his large hand effortlessly holding Jacob there by the throat and making it completely clear what Teal’c might do if Jacob gave the wrong answer.

“What is the meaning of this?”

In Teal’c’s other hand dangled a box-like machine and a kind of headband. “You cannot make use of this device on my friends. O’Neill, do not trust the Tok’Ra, they willingly sacrifice the individual, especially those not of their own. This device,” Teal’c spat, “will not be used on children.”

“Teal’c, if you’ll just hang on a minute,” coughed Jacob. “I wasn’t going to use it.”

“Then why bring it?” Teal’c remained motionless and suspicious.

“Anise suggested it, but Selmak has a better idea – no good for zatargs but we’re just into a little memory repression here, it doesn’t need to be so blunt.”

“If you point this device, at all, at any of my friends, it will be the end of any alliance between the Tok’Ra and the Free Jaffa.,” announced Teal’c, reluctantly allowing Jacob to move away from the wall.

“And?” asked Jack, eyebrows raised, “little squabble about frying brains?”

“I wasn’t going to use that, Jack, you have to believe me. Anise, a colleague of mine, claimed that it would be the only way to ensure you didn’t affect the timeline, but I think that the risks are too high, I was going to use an old hypnosis technique Selmak knows.” Jacob looked Jack right in the eye and added, “you can trust me, Jack, we’re talking about my own daughter here, and no Tok’Ra rule book can change that.”

“That is reassuring,” granted Teal’c grudgingly, still not releasing the machine. Then, very deliberately, Teal’c dropped the machine onto the floor and placed a large foot on top of it. “As is this.”

Jacob rolled his eyes, “Anise is going to kill me.”

“You may tell her I am to blame.”

“Great, thanks Teal’c, I’m sure that will help Tok’Ra Jaffa relations a bunch.”

“Indeed,” admitted Teal’c.

“Maybe Kinsey caused a bit of trouble with it,” suggested Jack. “Threatened to wipe the brains of the entire air force or something?”

“Thanks Jack,” sighed Jacob. “We should get on with this, Teal’c and I shouldn’t remain here any longer than necessary.”

Jack raced up the stairs, trying to ignore the lump in his throat as he went to find his young friend. He really had to leave everything to chance and a couple of random air force Lieutenants that Daniel was going to be OK? Quickly, he grabbed a piece of paper from Sam’s ever present pad and scrawled a letter. Not to Daniel, but to Fen. So he could wait to catch up with Daniel if things were OK, he had assurances that ultimately they’d be great friends, and in the meantime there was only one person he could think of who’d genuinely be prepared to contact him if something went wrong.

It didn’t take long, enough time that Jacob had already dealt with Sam without Jack even getting chance to say goodbye, but he figured she’d be OK, he’d catch her later for sure. Fen’s address was easily found in Daniel’s minimal pile of stuff, and Jack didn’t need to say a lot to her:

 

Dear Fen

I’m a friend of Daniel’s. I’m not supposed to see him, and I’ll leave him be if he’s OK, but if you’re ever worried about him...

Find me.

Jack O’Neill

PS I may not remember who Daniel is, but this photo ought to do it.

 

Jack sealed the envelope and went to find Daniel before Jacob could.

“Danny, come take a walk with me?”

“Sure,” grinned Daniel. “Where to?”

“I’ve just got to post this letter, but I figure now we’re not in hiding we should get out for a bit, right?”

“Absolutely,” agreed Daniel, skipping to the front door with Jack.


	28. Chapter 28

1975

Teal’c and Jacob slipped out of the house almost unnoticed. With Tem held in a Tok’ra gizmo induced unconsciousness, and slung casually over Teal’c’s shoulder, the pair walked out of what had once been Jacob’s house as though they were just popping out to the shops. Behind them, acknowledged with a couple of relieved nods, George and younger Jacob closed the door.

It was sad to see them gone, but a relief that the whole messy affair was over.

“It’ll be nice to see them again,” smiled George, “in however many years it may be.”

Jacob agreed, “Do you know how they were getting back? Somehow I don’t think they’re going to just walk there.”

“To be fair, it can’t be that great a distance,” put in George, “in terms of mileage anyway. But yes, there’s a small ship hidden somewhere, Jacob and Teal’c gave it some strange sounding name, said they had to fly it to New York I think. Apparently they were annoyed that future Sam had stopped them using a puddle jumper.”

“A puddle jumper?” chuckled Jacob. “It really will be great to see what those guys get up to in the future.”

“Yeah,” grinned George. “sounds to me like the pair of them had a little mission under the radar if you ask me.”

“Good to know it was the same for all of us,” said Jacob. “So now, what’s left to clear up. Future visitors gone, you need to make a note to yourself to confiscate some random clothing when everyone gets back from 1969 and ‘seeing Cassie’...”

“... Yeah, I really hope my future self understands what I’m talking about...”

“... absolutely. That just leaves...”

“... Daniel.”

“I wish I could keep him,” said Jacob. “I suspect Sam wouldn’t mind about the extra brother if it was Daniel, they get on like a house on fire.”

“They will again,” smiled George sadly. “I’ll take care of it.”

                                                            *********

Daniel stared at the front of the house he’d been dreaming of for so long. Well, OK, not his parents’ tent back in Egypt, he’d been dreaming of that for longer, but the simple two storey house that he’d become so comfortable in after they’d died. The one where he’d had little adventures, and not the nightmare the Maybournes’ house had turned into. He’d never wanted to leave.

He didn’t know how this air force guy had worked out that he’d been taken from here illegally, it had to have some connection with Hank Maybourne being in the military, but Daniel wasn’t interested in the military and faced with the opportunity to see Fen again, he couldn’t really bring himself to care. He was here, and he was staying.

As Fen opened the door and flew out to see him, Daniel spared just one glance back to the friendly Lieutenant who’d delivered him.

“Thanks,” he called back.

“You’re welcome, Daniel.” George saluted, and then without even a word to the Turners, he left, just a small cardboard box resting on the driveway remaining of Daniel’s months away.


	29. Chapter 29

1975

Robert Kinsey ran his hands slowly over the plush office chair still resting in Tem’s, now obsolete apartment. Mere days ago this place had been the centre of a plan that Kinsey had thought might bring him a political advantage, in the form of superior technology, and now with Tem gone it was nothing more than a nice apartment.

Still, there had been records. Records that only Kinsey had been interested in looking for when things all fell apart. Signs that the military had been involved in this sort of endeavour for a long time. Had even occasionally managed to be successful. To Kinsey, it seemed like it might be worth keeping an eye on the military when they’re getting into that sort of thing.

Just so that things didn’t get out of hand.

And if that happened to bring advanced technology into Kinsey’s own hands, well, so much the better. He wasn’t one to worry about the little details of how these things might happen.

In fact, Kinsey smiled, he could feel a whole, funded, department coming on. After all, there must be others who thought that keeping an eye on the military was a good idea. Of course, it would take time to set up something like that, but already he could see potential members desperate to get a piece of this type of action. Not to mention a few wealthy supporters who would be keen to get their hands on anything that might add to their wealth.

Oh yes, this was probably the one that would get him right to the top, with a little patience, of course.

“The NID,” he announced to the room. “Not Into Details.”

He glanced out of the window.

“Just results.”


	30. Chapter 30

2005

Daniel stared at the photo Teal’c had just handed him. One with two Jacob Carters, a young General Hammond and very young versions of himself and Sam.

“What happened here, Teal’c? Did we all visit the Fountain of Youth and then forget about it?”

“No fountain was required, Daniel Jackson. This is how you and Major Carter appeared at the time the photograph was taken.”

“I must be about 12.” Daniel peered at the photo again.

“In fact this was taken immediately prior to your 10th birthday,” corrected Teal’c.

“My 10th...?” Daniel trailed off, a tiny spark of recognition firing in his brain. “I got some very strange presents for my 10th birthday you know, Teal’c.”

“I am unsurprised.”

“From people I didn’t know.”

“Indeed,” said Teal’c, unhelpfully.

“This photo suggests I did know them, and that it was you.”

“Indeed.”

“Are you going to explain?”

Teal’c paused, a raised eyebrow informing Daniel of the temptation to continue to prolong Daniel’s agony. “I may now explain.”

“And?”

“Jacob Carter, Selmak and I journeyed to the past once again.”

“Yes, obviously, why?”

“To assist in the procurement of a rogue Goa’uld who once served Ra.”

“Did you get him? How did this involve mini-us? Why are we together? Is that Jack grinning behind me?”

“The Goa’uld was successfully removed from the human, and the human returned.” Teal’c paused, Daniel suspected purely for dramatic effect rather than any mental processing. “The Goa’uld had discovered the small version of SG-1 and sought to remove it from existence.”

“When I was 10?”

“Nine.”

“Right,” Daniel sighed, trying not to let Teal’c’s deliberate game get to him. “Why don’t I remember/”

“Jacob Carter believed that would alter the past.”

“Of course,” nodded Daniel. Like father, like daughter.

“But you remember?”

“I was not of the past. My perspective insists that this event occurred only last week.”

Daniel looked at the photo again, trying to imagine what it was like seeing Jack and Sam at that age. Meeting the people who had become his family so soon after losing his first one.

“Jacob Carter informs me that your forgetfulness can be reversed.”

“I can remember?”

“He on board, Teal’c?” A yell came from just outside the door, immediately followed by the grinning face of Jack. Perhaps not so different from the one in the picture.

“He is.”

“Excellent,” Jack clapped Daniel on the back hard enough to make him cough, then turned back towards the door. “Let’s all go recapture our youth,” he nodded to Sam and Teal’c to take the lead, then took one moment to look back at Daniel and whisper. “I’m assured that Anise has no part in this, and that fun was had by all.”

“Battling a Goa’uld as a kid?” asked Daniel.

“Well, OK, there may have been the odd ass-whupping, but happy ending and fun with friends.”

“That’s OK then,” agreed Daniel.

“As long as we’re clear,” nodded Jack, practically skipping out of Daniel’s office.

Jack was right, it wasn’t as though Daniel wasn’t used to the occasional ass-whupping anyway, and who could resist finding out about something like that. They might even remember this particular part of their past better than any other for a while.

Daniel remembered that he was only 9, and hoped not.


End file.
